Amid Sunday's news that senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's wife and renowned writer Sagarika Ghose has been nominated for the Rajya Sabha by Mamata Banerjee's TMC for West Bengal, an old tweet by Sardesai is going viral.
The tweet discusses a breaking news story on CNN IBN/IBN 7, where Sardesai claims to investigate how one can buy a ticket to India's upper house.
"Breaking at 8 pm on CNN IBN/IBN 7: Rajya Sabha for sale: how you can buy a ticket to India's upper house," states Sardesai in his tweet posted on August 2, 2010.
Netizens are criticising the senior journalist with their remarks, asking sharp and witty questions. While some are asking Sardesai about the current rate for buying Rajya Sabha seats, others want to know the rate during the Congress era.
One Twitter user @shelbyygun took it on and said, "Rajdeep, what is the going rate now? Has Modi Sarkar's inflation affected Rajya Sabha seat prices too?"
Another user @KrishnaSharmaYT asked, "How much did it cost during Congress time?"
One X user also posted a short clip from The Lallantop show with Saurabh Dwivedi where Sardesai can be heard disapproving of journalists going to the Rajya Sabha. In this video, the senior journalist can be heard saying, "Netas think that journalists want to go to the Rajya Sabha and foray into politics, so that's why they ask. There is no doubt about it. However, I wonder why people want to go to the Rajya Sabha. Parliament has no importance during the Narendra Modi era, so there is no reason to go to the Rajya Sabha."
The X timeline feed is filled with such posts. It seems people are enjoying the irony that those in the media who claim to investigate such stories are now involved in them.
Ghose yet to officially join TMC
The TMC has nominated Sagarika Ghose, Sushmita Dev, Mohammed Nadimul Haque, and Mamata Bala Thakur as candidates for the upcoming RS polls. This marks Ghose’s foray into politics. However, Ghose is yet to officially join the TMC.
Over the years, Rajdeep Sardesai (as known in media circles) is said to be close to Mamata Banerjee both professionally and personally. Many times he has been the first to get Mamata’s reactions after big political developments in West Bengal. The senior journalist has also been seen posting pictures with her.
Commentators believe that it is Sardesai's closeness with Banerjee that has secured a Rajya Sabha seat for his wife. Some wonder why Sardesai made such a move, as time and again, he has been mocked by saffron party leaders to get a Rajya Sabha seat for himself by the Congress party, sometimes even on live shows.
Whatever the case may be, it's clear that after this, Rajdeep Sardesai will find himself amid suck attacks coming from every corner. He may dread going live with saffron party leaders during his prime-time debate show on India Today, knowing that the attacks will be sharper than before and he will have very little ammunition to fire back this time.
