Arvind Kejriwal talked about two senior journalists from ABP News who recently quit.
Highlights
- "Free media is lifeline of democracy," says Arvind Kejriwal
- A channel had covered PM Modi's interaction with Chhattisgarh woman
- "Media should rise now, otherwise it will be too late," he said
Days after two prominent journalists of a TV channel quit, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday blamed the government, saying it is "hell-bent to kill independent media".
"Free media is life-line of democracy. But Modi government is hell-bent to kill independent media. The resignation of two eminent TV journalists from ABP News in two days is another proof. Media should rise now, otherwise it will be too late," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
His allegations came after ABP's editorial head Milind Khandekar and senior anchor Punya Prasun Bajpai resigned from the channel; ABP's flagship show, "Masterstroke", was also taken off.
One of the episodes covered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with a Chhattisgarh woman who claimed that her agricultural income had doubled after she switched from paddy to sitafal farming.
The show later aired a report in which the woman, in an interview, claimed that officials from Delhi had "tutored" her before her interaction with the Prime Minister to say that her income had doubled.
As the news was shared widely on Twitter, union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore slammed the media organisation and questioned its journalistic ethics.
Days later, viewers complained that they were facing difficulty in watching the programme because of "disturbance and blackouts."