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HomePlugged InPrimeTimeTimes Now questions J&K Congress leader’s Biden call, NDTV India on Nitish’s...

Times Now questions J&K Congress leader’s Biden call, NDTV India on Nitish’s fate in Bihar

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

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New Delhi: Prime time channels Sunday were preoccupied with how new US president-elect Joe Biden would impact India-US relations. However, Republic TV dedicated itself to the arrest of the channel’s main star, Arnab Goswami.

NewsX’s Uday Pratap Singh discussed what Joe Biden’s election victory means for the Quad.

When Pratap asked if the Biden presidency would “disrupt” the Quad partnership, Lt Commodore G.J. Singh (Retd.) said, “No, he will not disrupt it because he will leave it where Trump has left it. He will not disturb the momentum… He will build on what has already been brought into existence.”

The anchor asked, “Will Biden adopt a similar aggressive tone towards China?”

Former IAF vice chief P.K. Barbora said, “Joe Biden is a fine gentleman but as a political head as the most powerful country in the world, I think he would be a little bit softer than what Donald Trump was.”

Meanwhile, British Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma, “It is the policies of the USA, rather than the individual… there might be some soft touches but principles will remain with the previous agreements.”

Times Now’s Pranesh Kumar Roy discussed Jammu and Kashmir Congress spokesperson Jahanzeb Sirwal’s call for US intervention in relation to the revocation of special status in the region last year.

Roy called this an “attack on the NDA government”. He added: “Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader has now sought the intervention of the new American president in Kashmir issue claiming that Joe Biden will pressurise the central government to revoke its decision.”

BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash defended the revocation of Article 370 saying, “I don’t know why the ‘Gupkar gang’ want to keep Dalits and women as second class citizens in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Meanwhile, political analyst Majid Hyderi asked a bigger question, “What did BJP gain out of Pulwama?”

Roy retorted, “You should be ashamed of yourself…45 of our braves died in Pulwama.”

Lawyer Sarfaraz Wani returned to the topic by saying, “Article 370 is to be given back by the Parliament of India. It’s not the US Senate who is giving 370 back. It’s not the United Nations who will give it back.”

Republic TV held a debate with the hashtag #IndiaWithArnab after the main star of the show was shifted to Tanoja jail for allegedly using a mobile phone while in judicial custody.

For a change, Sagarika Mitra anchored the debate.

“When Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of India’s number one news network, comes out and says his life is under threat and he’s being denied access to his lawyers…there are fake stories being put out with impunity,” she said.

Senior journalist Saurabh Shah responded, “Arnab is an eyesore for this Lutyens’ media. Why? Because the ecosystem of Lutyens’ media and of Leftist and Congress politicians has been broken by none other than a single person called Arnab Goswami.”

BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini didn’t mince her words in slamming the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. “What we’ve seen in the last few days is complete political terrorism, and a government acting out of pure ego,” she said.

Meanwhile, Hindi news channels remained focused on the Bihar exit polls, which have predicted a clear edge for the Grand Alliance or the Mahagathbandhan of opposition parties led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

NDTV India’s Nagma wondered whether the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar can repeat 2015 victory amid what is looking to be an anti-incumbency wave and if this will harm the BJP, an alliance partner of Kumar’s the Janata Dal (United) party.

“We got a whiff of this victory during the campaigns itself. The kind of crowds that had accumulated during Tejashwi [Yadav’s] rallies… We credit him to frame the agenda around unemployment and not any communal issues,” said RJD’s Shivanand Tiwari.

He took a potshot at Nitish Kumar and saying, “Nitish ji, who remains very careful about what he says, seemed a bit scattered.”

To this, JD(U) MP K.C. Tyagi attempted to give a measured answer: “Campaigns are one such phase when everyone is very reactive.”

Meanwhile, News18 India on its show ‘Sabse Bada Dangal’ kept flashing the words — “Lapete mein Nitish (In a bind, Nitish)”.

Anchor Kishore Ajwani posed the question: “Did politicians put the people in a bind or the reverse?”

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi replied to this saying, “It is the opposition which is trying to place everyone in a bind. But the people of Bihar are smart.”

Another unique feature was a musical panel, which would frequently burst into music when expressing a point.

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