A heated political fight broke out over Doordarshan's selective telecast of an interview with BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as the main opposition accused the government of censorship while the ruling party sought to distance itself from the controversy.
DD's editing of Modi's interview also saw a miffed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sharply rejecting the BJP's leader's reported comment that he saw her actions as that of a daughter.
The public broadcaster edited chunks of a 56-minute Modi interview and reacting to the Gujarat chief minister's reported comments, Priyanka said, "Main Rajiv Gandhi ki beti hoon'( I am Rajiv Gandhi's daughter)...My father died for this country more than 20 years ago. I love him more than I love anybody else in my life. And I don't appreciate this comparison at all. My father is a martyr. He sacrificed for the country. And in my heart, he can never be compared to any other person."
When asked if she was offended and angry over the Gujarat CM's comments she said, "No, it doesn't really anger me....but enough is enough....I don't get offended by anything anyone says." Asked why Modi is commenting on such issues, she said, "He would know better than I do."
DD's decision to knock out Modi's comments on Priyanka, Congress leader Ahmed Patel and some other issues saw BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman demanding an explanation from the I&B ministry and Prasar Bharati.
"It is all very well if the I&B minister has said that Prasar Bharti is an independent body and is at arm's distance from the ministry...But as for the censorship, it is the same party that talked of censoring social media and so it is for Congress to answer this question," she said.
Sitharaman was responding to I&B minister Manish Tewari's comment that the ministry has no role in the daily operations of the public broadcaster. "Prasar Bharati is an autonomous broadcaster and is governed by an act of Parliament. The I&B ministry has an arm's-length relationship with the broadcaster. We do not interfere in their news agenda. Prasar Bharati is a board-driven organisation and the ministry had no role in its day-to-day working," he said.
Later, Congress minister P Chidambaram expressed his discomfort with Modi's comments on Priyanka saying, "I am happy that Narendra Modi considers Priyanka Gandhi as his daughter but I am not sure if she will be happy to consider Modi as a father figure."
Chidamabaram said he was not aware of what was said and what was edited. He said his own recent interview to a television channel underwent some editing as "that is prerogative of the editor" of the news channel in terms of the schedule and size of the programme.
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