The resignation of two top television editors at ABP News and the benching of a third is being seen in media and political circles as the latest example of a prominent media house stooping to conquer the affections of the ruling party.
On Wednesday, the channel’s management announced the resignation of its editor-in-chief, Milind Khandekar. This announcement was followed soon by the departure of Punya Prasoon Bajpai, anchor of the popular nightly show, ‘Master Stroke’.
Bajpai ran a story on his show which showed video interaction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with beneficiaries of various government programmes held on 20 June. A participant from Chhattisgarh, Chandramani Kaushik, told the prime minister on the show that her income had doubled after she switched from cultivating paddy to growing custard apples. The show, however, reported that the woman had been tutored to make false claims in support of the Prime Minister.
Also being stated is the rumor that senior news anchor Abhisar Sharma has been pulled off air for 15 days after he reportedly questioned instructions from management that there be no criticism of Modi on his programmes.
