Rahul says he fights political battles without hatred
New Delhi, July 25 : Days after he hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament generating a controversy, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said his attempt was to fight his political battles without hatred, pointing out Hinduism teaches that one can not be imprisoned by hostility.
Gandhi, who was the guest of honour at the formal launch of journalist Karan Thapar's book "Devil's Advocate: The Untold Story", said he can hug a BJP leader and fight him politically, but he was not sure if he can expect the same from BJP.
"If there is one thing that our religion teaches us it is that you absolutely can not get imprisoned by hatred. And that's my endeavour in a little way," he said.
Gandhi referred to the episode in the Lok Sabha during the debate on no-confidence motion last week and said BJP MPs now move "two steps back" when he comes near them.
Gandhi began his speech by attacking the Modi government, saying "India today is coloured with "a lot of hate, a lot of anger and frustration."
He said politicians across the political divide, including him, tend to "see the world as them or us."
Pointing to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, who were in the audience, Gandhi said they would agree that this ('them' or 'us') was not his worldview.
"This is the design of our politics: It is confrontational and it is like a winner takes it all. But this is not how I am designed from inside and I am sure this is how many of you are designed from inside. I am sure Mr Advani would agree with the basic idea of what I am saying," Gandhi said.
The Congress President recalled his visit to Vietnam about ten years back to see the impact of the country's war with America and said his boatman during ride on the Mekong river happened to be a person who had fought the Americans.
Gandhi said the man had injuries all over his body and that he had also killed an American. "But he did not hate them," said Gandhi.
Gandhi emphasised that one can fight an opponent without hatred, and noted that hatred was "an active choice" that an individual makes.
"The point I am making is that you can fight someone with all your might but hate is a choice. It is an active choice that you make. And that is something very important to understand," he said.
Gandhi said he can disagree with Advani and have a completely different perception about the country. "I can fight him on every single inch but he does not need to hate me," he said.
"I can actually hug him and fight him," Gandhi said to a loud applause.
"This is very interesting how it works because now whenever I come across BJP MPs, they sort of take two steps back... Let us fight, I will take on Narendra Modiji. All my friends sitting here, we will all take on BJP and they will fight us. But we don't need to hate them. I don't know if I can expect the same from them," Gandhi said.
The event was attended by several senior Congress leaders, including Karan Singh, Digvijay Singh, Ahmed Patel. CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury was also among those present.
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Union government assumes full control over TV ratings, TRAI role curtailed: Report
New Delhi: The Union government has assumed full control over television audience measurement, removing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from oversight of the ratings system that underpins the country’s ₹36,000 crore television advertising market, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report in Mint said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) now has exclusive authority over the framework governing how television ratings are measured and regulated. TRAI had been entrusted with oversight of TV ratings in 2012 during the UPA government’s tenure. TRAI is no longer mentioned in the relevant policy document, effectively vesting sole authority in the MIB.
The report said TRAI will continue to regulate other aspects of broadcasting, including channel pricing, advertising caps, interconnection and distribution norms, service quality and compliance standards. Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.
Television Rating Points (TRPs), which reflect viewership patterns, guide advertisers in deciding where to allocate spending across channels and time slots.
A government source quoted in the report said the ministry could modify TRAI’s decisions even when the regulator oversaw broadcasting.
A former CEO of Prasar Bharati told the newspaper that the MIB has historically regulated rating agencies through licensing and guidelines, and by holding them accountable under existing norms.
During its tenure overseeing ratings, TRAI had taken decisions affecting the broadcast sector, which included capping advertising time at 12 minutes per hour following complaints about excessive commercial breaks and it now remains unclear how these matters will be addressed under the revised arrangement.
Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at TRAI, was quoted as saying that merging regulatory functions with policy oversight and removing an independent regulator from the process was a retrograde step.
TRAI’s involvement in broadcasting had earlier attracted criticism as well. In 2012, its consultation paper on quantitative limits on television advertising was viewed by some as overlapping with the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code. Subsequent recommendations covering television audience measurement, ownership of news channels and issues such as paid news had also raised concerns among sections of the industry.
Television ratings have faced scrutiny in recent years, including during the controversy involving the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), where officials of the ratings body were prosecuted over allegations of manipulation of viewership data.
