Former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari, has made sensational revelations in his new book alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once walked into his office without a prior appointment to express his anguish over unfavourable coverage on the Rajya Sabha TV and hurdles in passing Bills in the Upper House of the parliament.
File Photo: Prakash Singh/AFPWriting in his book, By Many a Happy Accident: Recollections of a Life, Ansari shared one incident when Modi stormed into his office. “An expression of this was conveyed to me authoritatively, and somewhat unusually, when one day PM Modi walked into my Rajya Sabha office unscheduled. After I got over my surprise, I made the customary gestures of hospitality.”
Ansari continued, “He(Modi) said that ‘there are expectations of higher responsibilities for you but you are not helping me.’ I said that my work in the Rajya Sabha, and outside, is public knowledge. ‘Why are bills not being passed in the din?’ he asked. I replied that the Leader of the House and his colleagues, when in Opposition, had appreciated the ruling that no bills will be passed in the din and that normal procedures of obtaining consent will be observed.”
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Modi, according to Ansari then told the then Vice President of India that the BJP-led government was not receiving favourable coverage on the Rajya Sabha TV.
“He (Modi) then said that the Rajya Sabha TV was not favourable to the government. My response was that while I had a role in the establishment of the channel, I had no control over the editorial content and that a committee of Rajya Sabha members, in which the BJP was represented, provided broad guidance to the channel, adding that from all accounts, the channel”s programmes and discussions were appreciated by the viewers,” Ansari added.
The government has not reacted to Ansari’s shocking revelations.