Banning news channel is an attack on democracy: Lalu

"A popular channel has reported an incident. Banning it for a day is an attack on democracy. Narendra Modi, BJP and RSS are taking the country toward emergency and dictatorship", Lalu said while addressing Samajwadi Party's silver juibilee celebrations here.

Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav also drew parallels to the emergency, saying such measures had been seen during the period when media was gagged.

"I want to advise all BJP men to remain alert. You have attacked media and this will taken seriously," he said.

The government's move came after an inter-ministerial panel concluded that the channel, NDTV India, had revealed crucial and "strategically sensitive" information on the Pathankot terror attack in January this year.