New Delhi: As the newly constituted Congress Working Committee members met in Hyderabad on Saturday, CWC member and senior party leader Pawan Khera defended the INDIA bloc’s decision to not participate in the news shows that “conduct inflammatory debates by saying that the Opposition has not banned, boycotted or blacklisted anyone.
“We are carrying out a “non-cooperation movement” against the hatred”, he said, adding, “We will not cooperate with anyone spreading hatred in the society. They are not our enemies. Nothing is permanent, if tomorrow they realise that what they were doing is not good for India, we will again start attending their shows.”
Khera, who is the party’s media and publicity department head, further said that the “internal democracy” is what makes Congress different from other parties. “No other party in this country has had this kind of an open election. There will be an open discussion and everybody will be free to voice his or her opinion, suggestion or criticism,” he said.
“That is the way our party functions, that is the way the blood in the veins of our party stays fresh and boiling,” Khera said.
The response of Khera has come after the INDIA alliance released a list of 14 TV anchors, accusing them of conducting “hate-filled” news debates.
The bloc, which has its government in 11 states, said that it will not send its representatives on shows featuring Aman Chopra, Amish Devgan and Anand Narasimhan of News 18; Chitra Tripathi and Sudhir Chaudhary of Aaj Tak; Gaurav Sawant and Shiv Aroor of India Today; Prachi Parashar of India TV; Arnab Goswami of Republic Bharat; Rubika Liyaquat of Bharat 24; Navika Kumar and Sushant Sinha of Times Now Navbharat; Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express; and Ashok Shrivastav of DD News.
The ‘unprecedented’ decision by the Opposition-led INDIA bloc drew sharp criticism from the BJP. The ruling party has accused the Congress of having an “Emergency era mindset” by putting a gag order against the journalists.