‘You have a responsibility to be objective,’ Rahul tells media

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused media, particularly television channels, of relying on “keywords” provided by the BJP-led government and “doing a disservice to the country.”

“You’re media people; you have a responsibility to be objective,” he also said.

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The comments came after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey submitted a notice in the Lok Sabha seeking a substantive motion against Gandhi. Dubey accused him of “misleading” the House and demanded the cancellation of his parliamentary membership and a bar from contesting elections, and reporters outside Parliament asked for his response to it.

Responding to queries, Gandhi criticised media outlets for repeating BJP-provided talking points.

“You are not totally employed by the BJP. At least try to do a bit of objective reporting; it gets really shameful — it’s too much. You’re responsible people. You’re media people; you have a responsibility to be objective. You can’t just take a word they give you every day and run your whole show on that. You’re doing a disservice to this country. Aren’t you able to recognise that?” he said.

The notice followed Gandhi’s criticism of the Narendra Modi government over the India-US trade deal in the Lok Sabha.