New Delhi: With no clear lead story, prime time was all over the map and explored anything news channels found to their liking – some still couldn’t get over the Delhi election result or Shaheen Bagh (guess who?).
On NDTV 24×7’s ‘Left, Right and Centre’, the latest TV star, AAP’s fresh-faced MLA Raghav Chadha told anchor Vishnu Som that after the elections all “animosity, enmity and mudslinging” should end, Delhi and the central government should work together like a “younger brother and big brother”. That would mean Big Brother Modi and Shah looking over Kejriwal’s shoulder….
Som asked about Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that political parties must reveal the reasons for selecting candidates with criminal records – 42 per cent of AAP candidates have criminal cases against them. Chadha responded by saying it was the “quality” of the cases that mattered, as more than two dozen related to protests or dharnas, not “murder-dacoity” cases.
After the BJP’s stunning defeat, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari finally addressed the media in an exclusive with Rubika Liyaquat on ABP News. He dwelt on BJP’s increased vote share and sounded so optimistic you’d think his party had won not lost. He tried to convince an unimpressed Liyaquat, who was busy sipping coffee, that in areas like Adarsh Nagar, Patparganj, Shalimar Bagh and several other constituencies, BJP lost by only a 100-odd seats. Oh, and he recited a bhajan — possibly competing with Kejriwal for his rendition of the Hanuman Chalisa on the very same channel?
On Aaj Tak, the anchor told AAP’s newly-elected MLAs, and viewers, about BJP leader O.P. Sharma’s remarks that Arvind Kejriwal has got such a “pakka rang” of corruption and terrorism on him, that no other colour could be put on him. He had also called Kejriwal an “anarchist”, supporter of the ‘tukde tukde gang’, and “Pakistan spokesperson”. AAP’s Susheel Gupta dismissed Sharma, saying that this kind of rhetoric is exactly what caused BJP’s massive defeat in Delhi.
On Republic TV, anchor Arnab Goswami discussed Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s demand for the Congress to fight “PFI Communalism”. “Appeasement is not secularism”, and “pseudo-seculars are being exposed”, yelled Goswami. “Appeasement for none and empowerment for all is our mantra,” echoed BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia.
Goswami wondered how Congress could change its stance on PFI and then turned his attention to Tasleem Ahmed Rehmani, President of Muslim Political Council of India and asked how he could support those in Shaheen Bagh when his party received only 140 votes in the Delhi polls?
In between laughter and clapping from other panel members, Goswami told Rehmani not to be “shameless”, and accused him of “hyperbolic communalism” that made voters “show him the door”. Rehmani, in response, roundly told him off: the people of Delhi had rejected hate — the hate that Goswami contributed to.
On Zee News’ ‘DNA’, Sudhir Chaudhary told viewers that 14 February was special, and not just because it was Valentines’ Day — it was also the anniversary of the Pulwama attack which resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF jawans. “The country’s memory is very weak, but we’ll remind you of this attack,” he said, adding that for Zee News — “rashtravaad hamaare DNA main hai” (nationalism is in our DNA).
India Today’s prime time with Rajdeep Sardesai turned into a live doctor consultation. With viewers sending in questions about coronavirus, Dr. Bharat Goyal of National Chest Centre and Dr. Rajesh Chawla of Indraprastha Hospital tried to debunk myths and issue precautions. Goyal told viewers that if they worried about symptoms of the virus, they could go to specific coronavirus centres, if not, any pulmonologist in a private or public hospital would also do.
Chawla told a woman worried about her Thailand vacation plans that if she could avoid her trip it would be better, but otherwise she should take stringent care of personal hygiene, wear a tight mask, and maintain one metre distance from other people. Easy, right? Goyal tried to allay another woman’s fears about the virus becoming a global pandemic, but finally said that with the exponential rise in the number of cases it meant it had “all the makings of a pandemic”.
Shaik apni apni dekh….?
New slogan for zee news staff “Sudhir Chaudhuri hatao Zee news bachao” … if this doesn’t happen “Zee news hatao Journalism bachao ”
“Republic TV hatao Media Bachao”