Arnab Goswami returned to his channel after a week of absence and caused quite a bit of a flutter soon after making his appearance on TV. The first topic being debated by Goswami on his prime time programme was the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2. But far from discussing the purpose and its benefits, Goswami began his show by taunting the Congress party for the contribution of India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to the launch of Chandrayaan 2.
Goswami’s opening statement was laden with sarcasm for the Congress and Nehru. The reason for his extraordinary outbursts was a tweet by the Congress, which had said that this was a good time to ‘remember the visionary move of India’s first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to fund space research through INCOSPAR in1962 which later became ISRO.’ The tweet by Congress had also thanked former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for sanctioning the Chandrayan 2 project in 2008.
This is a good time to remember the visionary move of India’s first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to fund space research through INCOSPAR in1962 which later became ISRO. And also Dr. Manmohan Singh for sanctioning the #Chandrayan2 project in 2008. pic.twitter.com/2Tje349pa0
— Congress (@INCIndia) July 22, 2019
Goswami decided to vent his ire at one Rajiv Desai, who he has always dubbed as a Congress supporting guest on his show. The Congress has officially boycotted Goswami’s Republic TV and doesn’t send its spokespersons on the channel.
Addressing Desai mockingly with sarcasm, Goswami said, “Rajiv, Thank you for making it happen. You know what would we do without (Pandit Nehru). You are just unbelievable. Look at the ability of your leaders and late leaders. GSLV MkIII-M1 successfully testfired and put into orbit by Chacha Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh put together. It really is a wonderful occasion to celebrate, isn’t it?”
He wasn’t done yet with his sarcasm as he continued, “May you want to talk a little bit more about it today Rajiv on how we should look at this one moment today and look at what Chacha Nehru did today.”
By this time Desai, who was sitting calmly was beginning to lose his patience. Once allowed to speak, Desai decided to slam Goswami accusing him of hosting a ‘petty game’ in the name of a serious debate show. He said, “Arnab, I thought we were going to have a serious discussion on the moon launch. And you turned this into a tawdry, political, point-scoring debate. I have nothing to say. I have absolutely nothing to say Arnab. I am not playing your game.”
He repeated one more time, “I am not playing your damn game.”
“No it’s not a game, it’s an official statement (from the Congress),” replied Goswami.
Desai said that he was hoping to discuss serious points related to the moon launch. “In spite of water not being feasible on the moon, how they want to study this whole issue about ice. I thought those are the kind of issues you would have wanted to talk about instead of turning this into a cheap, tawdry, petty political debate.”
“I am no interest in talking about this. Count me out…I am out of it, don’t address me anymore,” Desai declared leaving Goswami stunned. Desai stuck to his words and did not feature in the debate show hosted by Goswami later. The Republic TV camera also stopped showing his window on their TV screen primarily to avoid further embarrassment.
This is not the first time, guests have walked out of his programme after being upset about his insulting diatribe. Earlier this month, two guests had quit the show midway after Goswami called his panelists ‘leech’ and ‘classified hypocrite’ on LIVE TV.