Several channels and newspapers gave a miss to AAP national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s allegation that the prime minister’s “media advisor” Hiren Joshi pressured the media.
In a show of strength ahead of the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections, the AAP had invited around 1,500 elected representatives of the party from across the country to Delhi to the first such AAP meeting. At the event on Sunday, Kejriwal claimed that Joshi, officer on special duty, communications and IT in the PMO, warned owners and editors of TV channels that “there is no need to show the Aam Aadmi Party” and threatened them with consequences if they “show Kejriwal”.
While the PMO is yet to respond to the allegations, various media outlets covered the event but chose to give the remarks a miss.
Let’s take a look at prominent newspapers.
Indian Express
The remarks were mentioned in a paragraph on the second page – which continued a report on the event from the front page. The paper also sent a message to an official in the PMO for a response but no comment was received.
Hindustan Times
The paper covered the event on the front page in its Delhi edition but didn’t mention the remarks.
Times of India
The daily reported the event on the front page but chose to skip Kejriwal’s comment on Joshi.
The Hindu
The Chennai edition didn’t mention the comment though the event was reported on. Notably, the paper’s website had two reports on the event, of which only one – from the Press Trust of India – contained the allegations against Joshi.
Let’s take a look at the channels.
News18 India
The channel chose to skip the comments while reporting on Kejriwal’s other remarks and the BJP’s counter statement in a segment uploaded on YouTube. It aired 26 minutes of BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra’s speech at a press conference following the AAP’s attack. Notably, its Punjab variant, meanwhile, decided to give space to the AAP chief’s claims.
The YouTube channel of CNN-News18, the network’s English mutant, also gave more space to Patra’s remarks as compared to Kejriwal’s statement.
ABP News
Kejriwal’s speech found eight minutes of airtime on the channel, which chose to skip the allegations on Joshi, at least on its YouTube handle.
Republic Bharat
The channel telecast the AAP chief’s statement while its English variant chose to skip it on its YouTube account.
Aaj Tak
The channel telecast the full length of Kejriwal’s speech, including his allegations against the PMO official.
India Today
The English channel mentioned Kejriwal’s remarks about pressure on the media in a five-minute segment on the party’s national convention.
Zee News
The channel ran 15 minutes of Kejriwal’s speech, including the remarks on Hiren Joshi.
TV9 Bharatvarsh
The network, including TV9 Gujarati, aired Kejriwal’s allegations against the PMO official.
Meanwhile, hitting back at Kejriwal over his claims, BJP’s Sambit Patra called him a “megalomaniac” and “bayan bahadur”. “Kejriwal is all about doing little and making a lot of noise. He has been making irrational claims because he has no real answer to the charges against his party’s leaders in corruption cases.”
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