INDIA Alliance Boycotts These TV Anchors: Here's The List

The leaders of the INDIA alliance have decided to boycott several TV anchors and TV shows. and the decision in this regard was taken at the recent meeting held at NCP supremo Sharad Pawar's residence.

As per the list shared by Pawan Khera, member of the Congress Working Committee, the leaders of the INDIA alliance will not be attending the shows hosted by 14 TV anchors.

The TV anchors are: Aditi Tyagi, Aman Chopra, Amid Devgan, Anand Narasimhan, Arnab Goswami, Ashok Shrivastav, Chitra Tripathi, Gaurav Sawant, Navika Kumar, Prachi Parashar, Rubika Liaquat, Shiv Aroor, Sudhir Chaudhary and Sushant Sinha. The decision was taken at the meeting held on September 13.

"We have made this decision with a heavy heart. We are not opposed to any of these anchors. We don't hate any of these anchors. But, we love our country more. We love our Bharat," Congress leader
Pawan Khera told PTI.

"The coordination committee authorised the sub-group on media to decide upon the names of the (TV) anchors on whose shows none of the INDIA parties will send their representatives," a joint statement by after a meeting of the INDIA coordination committee at Sharad Pawar's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday evening said.

After the meeting, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said, "I am talking particularly about godi media...There are some anchors who constantly speak against the INDIA alliance. It was decided that our representatives would not go there."

The phrase "godi media," roughly equivalent to "lapdog media," has been employed by various Opposition leaders to describe journalists and television networks that are seen as displaying a bias in favour of the BJP.

For the first time, the entire Opposition alliance has identified journalists. Sources have informed WIRE that some publications will be fully boycotted and some anchors will be avoided and there's a unanimous agreement among the parties that they should sever ties with at least three media outlets characterized as being closely aligned with the RSS-BJP and acting as their supporters.

How BJP Reacts?
The BJP condemned the move with its chief spokesperson and MP Anil Baluni saying in a statement that opposition parties have displayed their repressive, dictatorial and negative mindset. The BJP strongly opposes such a distorted mindset which curbs the freedom of expression, he said. "The media was throttled during the Emergency and these 'ghamandia' alliance parties continue to work with the same anarchic and Emergency mindset," he said, alleging that such an "open threat" to the media amounted to suppressing the voice of people.

Khera, however, asserted that the INDIA parties have decided not to legitimise this "hate-filled narrative" which is corroding our society, he noted. "That was the idea behind this decision," he said, adding that the opposition bloc does not want to be a party to any such action which adds hatred in society. "We are not opposed to any of the anchors, but we do not want to be a party to such endeavours," Khera said, adding that they can create memes or target their leaders but will not create such an atmosphere.

"We will not be customers in this market of this hate," he asserted. "We have taken this decision and issued this list with a heavy heart. We hope these anchors will do some introspection and take some corrective measures," the Congress leader also said. Union minister Hardeep Puri compared the move to the Emergency that curbed media rights. "The only instance we have seen of civil liberties being curtailed in India was during the Emergency in 1975," he said in a post on X.

"Open calls for eradication of Sanatan Dharma, FIRs against journalists and boycott of media reflect politics of those dark years of Emergency. True face of I.N.D.I.Alliance," he said. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur also hit out at the opposition bloc, saying this move shows their desperation.

Addressing a public meeting in Rajasthan's Bhilwara, he said, "Everyday, the leaders of Congress and their allies say they will destroy Sanatan Dharma and leave no stone unturned to insult Hindus. Now they have even started boycotting journalists and are filing cases. Be it in Chennai or Bengal, they are filing cases out of desperation and panic, and at the same time they are saying that they will eradicate Sanatan Dharma." Baluni said the opposition's decision also suggests that that these parties are unable to face the truth.

It seems the opposition alliance is under some outside influence to target the media's freedom, he said. "The BJP requests all media organisations and journalists dedicated to their duties to oppose such a distorted mindset while discharging their duties honestly," he said. They should not fear this dictatorial mindset of the opposition's alliance and follow the higher values of working without fear or favour, the BJP leader said.

The BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya also took to X to say, "So I.N.D.I Alliance has released a list of journalists, who refused to even bend, when the Opposition expected them to crawl. They should wear it as a badge of honour. More power to them..." The AAP also shared the list of journalists and the statement issued by the INDIA media committee on its X handle using the hashtag "#JudegaBharatJeetegaIndia".