Zee is not BJP channel: Owner Subhash Chandra makes desperate plea on live TV after Kejriwal govt files criminal case

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Zee News chairman, Subhash Chandra, on Monday took an extraordinary step by appearing on live TV to make a desperate plea on the perceived biases of his news channel in favour of the BJP.

He appeared on Zee news’ prime time show DNA, presented by anchor Sudhir Chaudhary, seeking to clarify that his was not a BJP channel as being alleged on social media.

Chandra appearing on his news channel to speak for over 10 minutes assumes significance in light of the criminal case being filed by Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal government against the channel on Monday.

Chandra sought to distance his channel’s allegiance from the saffron party while showering praises on Narendra Modi and his government in the same breath.

Addressing the BJP supporters, he said that they ought to have understood that his was not the saffron party’s mouthpiece.

Delhi government on Monday had ordered criminal action against the three news channels, who allegedly broadcast doctored videos on the JNU Students’ Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

The order, according to a top government source, was issued by the deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Revenue portfolio.

It was the revenue ministry, under whom the probe into alleged fake videos was being carried out.

The source said, “Yes, the minister has ordered taking criminal action against the guilty channel. One of the channels against whom action has been ordered is Zee News.”

Chandra’s clarification aside, he’s never hidden his public association with the BJP. He had actively campaigned for the saffron party candidate in Hissar during the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

While talking to media on 10 September 2014, Chandra had confessed, “I have a relation with the BJP over last the two decades.”

On Monday night, however, he chose to imply that his friendship with BJP leaders was as normal an occurrence as his friendship with leaders from the Congress party.

A source in Zee news told www.jantakareporter.com that the developments of the last few days particularly the news that the channel had allegedly run doctored video has left Chandra extremely nervous.

The Delhi government’s decision to initiate criminal proceedings has only compounded his woes.

Chandra and his team, according to the sources in Zee, are also perturbed by the increasingly negative press over its fast deteriorating reputation.

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