Congress's Rahul Gandhi took on the media again and raised the issue of freedom of speech at a nukkad sabha (neighbourhood gathering) in Rajasthan's Kota today. The media, he said, "has been taken over by people from the BJP and RSS (The BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and it is not being able to function as the fourth pillar of democracy".
The opposition, he said, is not given adequate coverage in parliament when it raises issues.
"Whenever we want to speak in parliament on issues like GST, demonetisation or the farmers bill or on the incursions by China, we are not allowed to speak. Our mic is switched off. If we shout in parliament, the cameras don't focus on us. Lok Sabha TV only likes the face of the Speaker and shows only the Speaker. That's why we thought let's go out on the streets and reach out to the people," he added.
Mr Gandhi has made the same point earlier too. This time, he said he agreed with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot -- that the media is being controlled. "I agree with Ashok Gehlot -- the media and the reporters want to work. But their remote control is in Delhi," Mr Gandhi said.
On Monday, Mr Gehlot had said that the media was "boycotting" the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is currently passing through Rajasthan.
"Lakhs are joining the campaign. Will you not show such a huge campaign? It is the duty of the media to show it. Rahul Gandhi's positive yatra, positive thinking...there is no violence. If you don't show such a yatra, then you are failing in your duty to the nation" Mr Gehlot had said.
Declaring that "History won't forgive" he said the reporters should go back to the their "high command" and take corrective steps.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra started from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari on September 7 and has covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It will end in Jammu and Kashmir early next year, after covering 3,570 km in 150 days.
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