New Delhi: Union minister Babul Supriyo demanded an apology from The Telegraph newspaper editor R. Rajagopal over reporting on his visit to Kolkata’s Jadavpur University Thursday, and then allegedly hurled abuses at him, including asking if the paper had “f***ing sold out”.
According to a report in The Telegraph Sunday, Supriyo called up the editor on his mobile and demanded an “amicable apology”.
“Around 7:50pm, the minister called Telegraph editor R. Rajagopal on his mobile phone during the evening news meeting. Supriyo introduced himself and said he would like an ‘amicable apology’,” the report said.
The editor asked what the newspaper should apologise for, to which Supriyo replied that it had mentioned he had elbowed a student during his visit to JU, which wasn’t true. Rajagopal said no such report had been published, and refused to apologise.
A few moments later, Supriyo allegedly lost his temper and asked if the paper had “f***ing sold out”.
ThePrint reached Supriyo for comment but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.
Details of the conversation
The conversation, The Telegraph report said, took place in the backdrop of events that unfolded at JU Thursday, when the BJP leader was allegedly heckled by students.
The Telegraph published a photograph of the event on its front page Friday, in which Supriyo could be seen pulling the shirt of a boy on campus. The headline read: “Babull at JU”.
The Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change tweeted a video at 6:44 pm, labelling it as “false biased reporting”, and insisting that he wasn’t “elbowing anyone” at the university. He threatened to sue the paper.
This is the video which shows:
1. I WASN’T elbowing anyone rather I ws being pushed & manhandled with my shirt torn
2. It wasn’t a girl either-it was BEARDED GUY as clearly seen in the VDO
If @Telegraph doesn’t apologise tomorrow for their false biased reporting, I’ll sue them pic.twitter.com/scFd7iHjWa— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) September 21, 2019
However, according to the report in The Telegraph, Rajagopal clarified that the newspaper had made no such claim. The report said the minister “construed (Rajagopal’s) categorical assertion as arrogance”, and reiterated that he was a “central minister”.
“Aren’t you a gentleman,” Supriyo allegedly asked Rajagopal, to which the editor said he replied “I am not a gentleman, I am a journalist… You may be a central minister but I am also a citizen of this country”.
When told that the newspaper had nowhere mentioned him elbowing someone, Supriyo allegedly changed tack and said he was offended by the headline. “The editor asked the minister what made him assume the headline was referring to him as the line below also spoke of ‘untamed protesters’,” the report said.
Rajagopal reiterated that there would be no apology and Supriyo was free to send the paper a legal notice if he wanted to. Supriyo told him he was recording the conversation, and Rajagopal asked him to upload it so that “people would know who said what”.
At this point, Supriyo allegedly asked: “Are you sold out? Are you f***ing sold out?” The report also said he used at least one more expletive.
The editor responded by saying the newspaper would report the conversation, and disconnected the call.
Following the conversation, Supriyo tweeted again, alleging that Rajagopal used “filthy lingo”.
MrRajagopal, the arrogant editor of @ttindia jst abused me in filthy lingo on the Telephone when I called him asking him 2 print an amicable small apology for falsely publishing a first page report accusing me of grabbing the shirt of a JU student when it’s the other way round? pic.twitter.com/iC2cEH6MlJ
— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) September 21, 2019
Also read: After JNU, Jadavpur University is the new ‘Left’ bastion everyone wants to storm