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HomePlugged InPrimeTimeAmit Shah wants media 'balance' — Zee, Rubika Liyaquat tells Kamal Nath...

Amit Shah wants media ‘balance’ — Zee, Rubika Liyaquat tells Kamal Nath women aren’t ‘items’

A quick take on what prime time TV news talked about.

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New Delhi: Prime time Monday, went everywhere, from the political machinations being seen in poll-bound Bihar to the potential exclusion of people from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Northeast India. Meanwhile, Republic TV explained, at high volume, how it would sue Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh for alleged defamation.

Zee News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary conducted an “exclusive” interview with Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the upcoming Bihar polls. Shah said he wanted to clarify on behalf of the BJP and NDA that “LJP is not a part of NDA in the upcoming Bihar elections.”

On how the BJP’s IT cell has been working to ensure smooth campaigning, the Home Minister said the party has been experimenting with virtual rallies for three months. He added that digital election campaigning is new for Indian democracy and he believes it “will reduce the costs of campaigning and time will be saved” if it continues even after the Covid pandemic.

The anchor also asked Shah what the role of the media should be. “I don’t want to give any advice to the people of the media world, but there is a need for balance, citizens feel the need for it, we also feel it,” Shah replied, sticking to safe territory.

The Bihar Assembly polls also took centre stage on India Today, with Rajdeep Sardesai interviewing actor Shatrughan Sinha, a former BJP MP from Patna Sahib who joined the Congress in 2019, and whose son, Luv Sinha, is contesting the Bankipur seat for the Congress.

Sardesai asked Sinha if he was retiring from politics, to which Sinha replied, “Not at all! What do you think? Hear the way I am speaking, what I am saying, how much passion I have… my focus is in the parliamentary election.”

Sardesai then got filmy and asked, “So it’s not easy to make Shatrughan Sinha khamosh?”, in a reference to the actor’s famous dialogue. Sinha said, “At present the situation is such that those who are against me are khamosh.”

NDTV 24X7‘s Sreenivasan Jain focused on Northeast India to discuss the controversial NRC and if the BJP was trying to find a new way to exclude people who made it to the NRC list. Earlier this week, NRC authorities in Assam had ordered the deletion of “ineligible” names that erroneously made it to the prepared register.

Jain said, “The BJP, which had been backing the NRC all this while, reacted with shock at the results (it threw up). Why? Because by all accounts, it appeared that the 19 lakhs left out included Hindus as well, in equal if not higher proportion to Muslims. This ran counter to the BJPs rhetoric…”

Assam BJP spokesperson Pramod Swami said, “The Assam government, with the Centre, will approach the Supreme Court once again on re-verification (of NRC).”

But the Congress’ Aadil Singh Boparai retorted that the re-verification of the NRC after the Supreme Court had rejected the request was “an attempt to overreach the Supreme Court.”

Over on ABP News, Rubika Liyaquat roasted former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath for referring to the BJP’s Imarti Devi an “item” while campaigning for the Congress in Dabra. Liyaquat began her show by sarcastically saying, “If Kamal Nath is watching the show, then please accept my namaskar. This namaskar to you is special. I want to tell you that women aren’t items. We are not items.”

“You are an experienced politician, you have been CM too, why don’t you mind the words coming out of your mouth,” Liyaquat asked as visuals of Devi weeping were run on the screen. “India is angry, women are angry, so today I, Rubika Liyaquat, will raise my voice against it,” she said.

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