Seldom does one see Arnab Goswami criticise the BJP prompting his critics to accuse him of being an unashamed flag-bearer of the saffron party in the guise of a news anchor. Not to forget that Goswami had launched his Republic TV with the help of BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar. But, Goswami was his menacing best on Wednesday night, when he astonishingly accused the BJP of immorality and embracing corrupts and criminals in its fold.
Starting his Tuesday night’s prime show debate, Goswami launched a tirade against the saffron party of facilitating the entry of Harshvardhan Patil, who the BJP had accused of a Rs 144 crore corruption in Corporation Bank in 2014. Patil was a cabinet minister in the Congress government in Maharashtra headed by the then Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Also joining the BJP ahead of this year’s Maharashtra assembly polls is NCP leader from Navi Mumbai Ganesh Naik, a former minister. He too was accused of corruption by the BJP in the past.
Starting the debate Goswami said, “Ladies and gentlemen, it is a fact that the opposition is diminishing but does that mean that the BJP will open its doors for anyone and everyone? Today, two politicians who’ve been accused of corruption have joined the BJP. Now this is not an isolated case. There are several examples which forces me to ask ‘For the BJP, is taint no bar anymore?'”
Later addressing a BJP spokesperson Vishal Sharma, Goswami said, “I want to understand today that why are you doing this? …You take Narada scam accused. People accused of sexual harassment you take, people accused of rape you take, people accused of extortion you take, people accused of stealing infrastructural money you take, people accused of bribery you take, people accused of bank fraud and chit fund scam you take, people accused of dubious dealings and unexplained turnover of profits in their companies you take. What’s the desperation brother? You just won a general election.”
Responding to his question, Sharma said that ‘law will take its course.’ This response prompted Goswami to hold his head in disbelief as he kept clapping to express his disgust on the response from the BJP spokesperson.
Goswami concluded by saying that the BJP leadership may have started to believe ‘too much in themselves’ and ‘maybe they think they are destiny’s children.’ He said, “Your (BJP’s) end may be noble but if you follow the immoral route, let me tell you that your end will not be moral.”
You can watch the debate here.