'Pervert Must Be Called Out': BJPAlleges Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai Of 'Sexual Assault' Against Party's Woman Spokesperson

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya alleged that senior journalist and India Today channel's anchor Rajdeep Sardesai released a video of party spokesperson Shazia Ilmi while she was unwiring the mic. He said Rajdeep's act was nothing short of sexual assault.

Amit Malviya, taking to X on Saturday, hit out at Rajdeep Sardesai, saying, "To continue shooting a guest after the show is over or he/she has withdrawn consent to be part of it is a gross violation of the contract."

"Besides, for Rajdeep Sardesai to put out the video, while the lady is unwiring, is nothing short of sexual assault. The pervert must be called out for violating Shazia Ilmi’s privacy and bodily integrity," Malviya added.

Reaction on the incident, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, "Shameful behaviour of the camera man to record Shazia Ilmi after she has chosen to get off the show & even more shameful to release the footage by Rajdeep Sardesai."

"This is a serious offence! In the past Rajdeep Sardesai has abused me & called me “low level cretin” & followed me aggressively out of the studio… He has also got my bytes / reactions boycotted on India Today after that. Another anchor Preeti Chaudhary used extremely bad language seemingly directed at Charu Pragya. It is high time Aurn Purie, Rahul Kanwal & others take note of this. Rajdeep’s conflict of interest & bias are all too obvious', he added.

His response came hours after Rajdeep shared a video on X on Saturday, claiming that reporter-turned-politician and BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi misbehaved with a video journalist at her house after her fader was allegedly lowered during a live debate on the channel.

What happened during the debate?

Yesterday, Rajdeep hosted a debate on 'Politics over Kargil Vijay Diwas,' where Shazia was one of the participants. During the debate, Major General Yash Mor (retired) pointed out that after the COVID outbreak, we did not recruit 1.8 lakh soldiers. He said, "Earlier, the pride of uniform—army, navy, and air forces—always been the number one choice of our rural youth. Today, unfortunately, it is not the number one choice... Young people have been disheartened."

As Major General Yash Mor was speaking, Shazia Ilmi interrupted him. On this, Rajdeep asked Shazia to have patience and listen to him as he was giving hard facts.

Shazia replied, saying, "Don’t sermonise." Then a heated argument broke out between Rajdeep and Shazia. Shazia then removed her mic and walked out of the debate.

After the incident, Shazia took to X and hit out at Rajdeep for lowering her fader during a debate. Criticising Rajdeep, she said, "I have been on both sides and know how to handle bullies like you. By the way, it doesn’t behoove political propagandists masquerading as journalists to sermonize."

Responding to Shazia's post, Rajdeep on Saturday put out a video of Shazia, in which she can be seen misbehaving with a video journalist at her home.