In a massive development, The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc of opposition parties on Thursday decided to boycott four TV news channels and 14 TV news anchors. The leaders have come up with the decision to boycott these anchors and news channels over their alleged provocative and communal debate shows and also said that the decision has been taken as they deflect the nation from real issues. The channels that have been boycotted by the alliance include Times Now, Republic Bharat, Sudarshan News and Doordarshan.
INDIA bloc issues list of TV anchors it will boycott
The Congress Party has issued the list of TV anchors whom they have decided to boycott during the meeting of the INDIA bloc. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also shared the list of the TV news anchors.
Congress leader Pawan Khera shares the list
Congress leader Pawan Khera shared the list and said "Decision taken by INDIA Media Committee September 14, 2023 Pursuant to the decision taken by the INDIA Coordination Committee in its meeting on September 13, 2023, the INDIA parties will not send their representatives on the shows and events of the following anchors"
List of anchors boycotted by INDIA bloc
The list includes the names of anchors from various news channels.
1. Aditi Tyagi
2. Aman Chopra
3. Amish Devgan
4. Anand Narasimhan
5. Arnab Goswami
6. Ashok Shrivastav
7. Chitra Tripathi
8. Gaurav Sawant
9. Navika Kumar
10. Prachi Parashar
11. Rubika Liaquat
12. Shiv Aroor
13. Sudhir Chaudhary
14. Sushant Sinha
TV anchors who refused to be 'charan chumbak' boycotted: Sudhir Chaudhary
Aaj Tak journalist Sudhir Chaudhary responded to the list shared by the INDIA bloc on X saying the TV anchors mentioned in the list "refused to be boot lickers and hence are being boycotted". The release of the list comes a day after the Karnataka police registered an FIR against anchor Sudhir Chaudhary for “conspiring to disrupt communal harmony” in a show hosted by him on Hind news channel Aaj Tak in which he mentioned about the state government’s commercial vehicle subsidy scheme.
BJP reacts
Amit Malviya, the national convener of the IT cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told the boycotted TV news anchors to "wear it as a badge of honour".
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Malviya wrote, "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."
