'Saddened BUT Not Surprised': Rajdeep Sardesai Reacts To BJP's Allegations Of Taking Scripted Interview Of Sena UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray

Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai on Monday responded to allegations by BJP leaders of conducting a "scripted interview" with Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray. Sardesai stated that he is "saddened but not at all surprised by the right-wing IT cell."

Taking to X, Rajdeep addressed the social media posts suggesting that his interview with Uddhav Thackeray was "scripted," based on a 19-second clip taken completely out of context.

Defending himself, Sardesai clarified that the "clip" referred to by Uddhav Thackeray in the interview was related to a story about the family of an Amravati farmer who died by suicide. He explained, "The story, when aired, went viral across several WhatsApp groups." Sardesai added that upon being asked for a link to the video by Uddhav Thackeray's office, he shared it with them.

Rajdeep also shared the full interview link and said, "If this is called ‘scripted,’ God help us."

In his post, Sardesai informed that after the report went viral, the farmer's family received generous donations, and their loan was cleared.

Sardesai's response came a day after BJP leader Amit Malviya shared the 19-second clip from Uddhav Thackeray's interview and accused the journalist of "feeding talking points to Uddhav Thackeray."

"So, India Today’s senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai is feeding talking points to Uddhav Thackeray and other MVA leaders... Then he pontificates on ‘ethical’ journalism and calls those, who are better journalists than him, Godi Media. What are journalists like Rajdeep called?" Malviya wrote.

The same 19-second clip was widely shared by BJP supporters, alleging that the interview was scripted.