"No Ban, It's A Non-Cooperation Movement": Congress On List Of TV Anchors

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday said that the INDIA alliance has "not boycotted or blacklisted anyone" but it is a movement of non-cooperation, and that leaders of the Opposition bloc will start attending shows hosted by the 14 journalists named by it if they realise their mistakes.

"We have not banned, boycotted or blacklisted anyone. This is a non-cooperation movement, we will not cooperate with anyone spreading hatred in the society...They are not our enemies," Mr Khera said.

Addressing a press conference ahead of the start of the two-day meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Mr Khera said, "Nothing is permanent, if tomorrow they realise that what they were doing is not good for India, we will again start attending their shows."

The decision to "boycott" 14 TV anchors was taken by the INDIA bloc's media committee on Thursday. A list shared by leaders of the INDIA bloc contains the names of 14 news anchors.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Friday launched a scathing attack against the Opposition bloc for its announcement, which he termed as "contempt against media" and "hatred against free journalism."

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "This boycott and media censorship can be traced back to 1975. It is not new. It is a rehearsal for you. For any reason, if the Congress government comes to power, the media will get censored but ISRO has made the Chandrayaan at the right time. I will send the entire Congress party to the moon, to form government there...This is childish..."

Mr Patra also said that the list was a "target list". "Who will take responsibility if any of your party workers attack these journalists?" he questioned. 

"This was a hit job, done by a hit list released by the Congress party and the 'INDI alliance'," the spokesperson added. 

Releasing the list of journalists on Thursday, Mr Khera had written on X, "Hate shops are decorated on some channels every day from 5 pm onwards. We will not become customers in the market of hate. Our aim is 'Hate-Free India'. With a heavy heart, it was decided not to participate in the shows and events of some anchors. We have been fighting against unrestrained comments, fake news, etc. against our leaders and will continue to fight, but we will not allow hatred to spread in society. Hate will end; love will win."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)