Times Now ‘proves’ Rhea drugged Sushant, on Aaj Tak, Sambit Patra enacts Rashi Kokilaben meme

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

Actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Rhea Chakraborty | Instagram

New Delhi: Prime time on Tuesday covered considerable ground — from Dawood Ibrahim to the Congress party’s leadership crisis. However, for some channels, of course, there’s only one topic all day and all night: ‘justice’ for Sushant Singh Rajput, with one ‘explosive revelation’ after another.

India Today’s Rahul Kanwal went to great lengths to answer the question of “who killed Sushant Singh Rajput?” Kanwal brought in experts who analysed the angle at which the rope cut through his neck in order to ascertain whether he was strangulated.

On Times Now, Navika Kumar, while raising what she called a “turning point”, had a message for her critics. “This is not just a claim, this is evidence that nobody can question tonight on why we’re spinning theories and that we are just creating such a media [storm] over Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.”

The point she was breathlessly waiting to make was, “We have accessed the WhatsApp chats that will blow the lid off this case…eight excerpts will tell you that Sushant would have been fed drugs. Fed drugs by who? By Rhea Chakraborty and her co-conspirators.”

Meanwhile, Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami new target was Sandip Ssingh, Rajput’s friend who is under the CBI’s scanner. Goswami declared, “I have dug up the call record details of Sandip Ssingh tonight. I have not tapped anyone’s phone to get this list, nor have I stolen this list. I have the list Sandip Singh has called in one year. Time, detail, duration, person.”

He went on, “My special investigation team has done a forensic check, over the last 12 hours, of dates and numbers. When we were going through this, we found multiple calls between ambulance driver and Sandip Ssingh on the day of the murder. Here’s the critical part, Sandip Ssingh and the ambulance driver, they spoke two days after Sushant was killed. There is a call between the two. Ask yourself tonight why on Earth would an ambulance driver keep in such close touch with Sandip Ssingh?”

NDTV 24×7’s Vishnu Som, mercifully, took a breather from the Rajput case, and focused on another Bollywood actor, Sonu Sood, who made waves for helping migrant workers get home during the lockdown. Sood has now opted to help students protesting the government’s decision to go ahead with the national-level NEET and JEE entrance exams despite the raging Covid pandemic.

Sood said, “We have to support these students. Over 26 lakh students are going to appear in these exams. Imagine students coming from states like Bihar, Assam and Gujarat which are flooded. How can we expect these students to travel?”

Zee News‘ anchor Sudhir Chaudhary went across the border, metaphorically, as his prime time segment focused on India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, whose residence in Karachi was confirmed by Pakistan, which later went back on this confirmation.

Chaudhary ‘unveiled’ Dawood’s connection with Pakistani actor Mehwish Hayat and how it revealed the terrorist’s property papers and bank details. Chaudhary said, “In the fight started by Dawood, we will make sure we continue it right till the end. It is not something that can be forgotten or stopped in between.”

Speaking about Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chaudhary said, “We will ask him for answers along with proof, and ask questions because they continuously keep repeating that he (Khan) is not in Pakistan. Today we will ask for the truth.”

On Aaj Tak‘s ‘Dangal’ with Rohit Sardana, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera discussed the political developments taking place in the Congress party after 23 Congress leaders wrote to interim president Sonia Gandhi asking for a complete overhaul of the party’s leadership and functioning.

Patra attacked straight away, “The Congress did not have a full-time leader and their leader at present (Sonia Gandhi) does not work on the ground. This is the truth and everyone knows it.”

He went onto say that when Congress spokespersons come on the show its almost as though they have a weight on their chest as they need to defend Rahul Gandhi. Patra was quick to point out that he didn’t include Khera as part of these spokespersons and he was “a good man”.

In the same show, Patra referred to Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, a TV series that has recently sparked a meme fest with endless jokes about Kokilaben, Gopi Bahu and Rashi who allegedly placed an empty cooker on the gas stove. He even helpfully enacted the video and explained that Rahul Gandhi was Rashi and the empty cooker was the Congress party. We may not know ‘rasode mein kaun tha’ but we know what the most entertaining part of last night’s prime time was.

First World Problems • Made Kokila Ben sing this time • I love doing harmonies, enjoyed this one a lot •
Kahi share karoge toh credits zaroor dena. Dhanyawaad!♥️♥️♥️#kokilaben #gopinahu #rashi #cooker #saathnibhanasaathiya #yashrajmukhate #ymstudios pic.twitter.com/4TcWwAcH7q

— Yashraj Mukhate (@YBMukhate) August 21, 2020