BJP remains inspired by killers of Gandhi: Sitaram Yechury on Pragya's Godse remarks
New Delhi, May 16: Left parties Thursday hit out at the BJP over its Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur's remark that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse was a "patriot", alleging that the saffron party remains inspired by the killers of the Father of the Nation.
Talking to a news channel in Madhya Pradesh earlier in the day, Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a desh bhakt (patriot), he is and will remain one. Those calling him a terrorist should introspect. They will be given a befitting reply in this election."
Reacting to her remarks, the Left parties said that facts should always be kept in mind when talking about Godse.
"The truth about where RSS-BJP stands on terror gets clearer all the time. A senior minister in (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's Cabinet said Godse was not a terrorist, now terror-accused Pragya Thakur calls the murderer of Gandhi ji a 'desh bhakt'. The BJP remains inspired by the killers of the Mahatma." CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said.
CPI leader D Raja said that BJP distancing itself from Thakur's comments shows its duplicity.
He alleged that the party allows its leaders to make all sorts of divisive statements and then conveniently distance itself from it.
"It's a fact that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and the incident was a well-planned one to spread hatred, create fear and to send out a message. This assassination was carried out by Nathuram Godse. If the BJP thinks Godse was patriot then what was Mahatma Gandhi?" he asked.
Meanwhile, PDP president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said, "Gandhi ji certainly didn't die to let history repeat itself. The BJP should be ashamed for endorsing a candidate who praised Bapu's assassin. He (Godse) was a terrorist & those who admire him are nothing else but Nathuram Godse 2.0 in the making."
Mehbooba said she took pride in being called an "anti-national" when Godse is hailed as a nationalist.
"I take pride in being called an anti-national when a Hindu fanatic who gunned down Gandhi ji is hailed as a nationalist. Aisi nationalism aur desh bhakti hamare bas ki naheen. Yeh aapko mubarak ( I am not capable of such nationalism. You. May keep it), " she added.
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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.
