TMC Boycotts 3 TV Channels Over 'Anti-Bengal Propaganda', BJP Says Govt Move Against Free Speech

The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has announced it will no longer send its party spokespersons to three TV news channels—ABP Ananda, Republic, and TV9—due to their “persistent anti-Bengal agenda-driven propaganda.”

In an X post shared on Sunday, the Trinamool Congress stated, “AITC has, for now decided not to send its spokespersons to media channels like ABP Ananda, Republic, and TV9 due to their persistent anti-Bengal agenda-driven propaganda.”

The Mamata Banerjee-led party stated that these channels’ need to appease the “Zamindars of Delhi” due to the investigations and ongoing enforcement cases faced by their promoters and companies.

AITC also urged the people of Bengal not to be misled by individuals on these platforms who claim to be party supporters. “We also clarify and request the people of West Bengal not to be misled by individuals portrayed as party supporters or sympathisers on these platforms during discussions or debates, as they are not authorized by the party and do not represent our official stance,” the statement said.

Furthermore, the party emphasised that the people of Bengal have consistently rejected this “unholy nexus” and have always chosen “truth over propaganda.”

“The people of Bengal have consistently rejected this unholy BANGLA BIRODHI NEXUS and have always chosen TRUTH over PROPAGANDA!,” TMC stated.

Reacting to Trinamool’s decision of boycotting the channels, BJP in an X post said: “The TMC was always dictatorial and opposed to the idea of free speech. Their decision to boycott three popular news channels in West Bengal—TV9, Republic, and ABP Ananda bears us out. But this decision is not a consequence of any principles, because Mamata Banerjee and her party have none, but out of growing frustration and inability to face the truth.”

TMC’s decision to boycott the channels comes after a recent controversy involving party MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who faced condemnation from the medical community for her ‘derogatory’ remarks during a television debate, for which she later issued a formal apology.

During the panel discussion organised by a vernacular television channel, Dastidar claimed that, during her time as a medical student, there was a trend where female students secured qualifying marks by “sitting on the lap” of teaching doctors.

Dastidar, an alumnus of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, also alleged that students who protested against this practice were awarded lower marks. She expressed her disbelief and said that she had never imagined that the “trend of getting qualifying marks by sitting on the lap of medical- teachers would ultimately take such a nasty shape whether even the thesis papers of the protesting students are kept on hold”.

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Dastidar, a medical practitioner in private life, faced massive criticism from the medical fraternity, with various doctors’ associations even calling for her suspension from the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

(With inputs from IANS)