BJP curtailing freedom of press by barring journalists from recording MCD sessions: AAP

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday (October 28) accused the BJP of stonewalling journalists from recording MCD sessions to keep the public in the dark about their misdeeds.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the BJP has threatened the very tenets of democracy by banning reporters from documenting the House proceedings. Their latest ‘Tughlaqi Farman’ is in strong violation of the fundamentals of transparency, which is a must for every governing body, he said.

“The BJP led South Delhi Municipal Corporation issued a ‘Tughlaqi Farmaan’ concerning its House proceedings yesterday. This stated that no reporter is allowed to record or live stream any of its House proceedings. This kind of tyrannical order has also been issued by East Delhi MCD prohibiting both in House reporting/live telecasting. It is extremely appalling, for be it Lok Sabha or Delhi Vidhan Sabha, it is standard procedure for the proceedings to be reported live, to be made available to the public. Being the discussions among representatives the people have chosen for themselves, they have a right to know the contents of these proceedings. They should be able to witness which of their problems or development schemes their representative is addressing, and whether their interests are being represented well,” said Bhardwaj.

“If BJP led MCD is neither recording nor live streaming its House sessions, not allowing any such activity by journalists and mediapersons: it definitely raises questions about the content of these proceedings. This is a suspicious move and clearly implies that the BJP is up to no good. There are truths that the BJP wants to hide from the public and keep them in the dark. We staunchly condemn this Tughlaqi Farman, this conspiratorial move. This is just not plausible, and shouldn’t be practised. No House should be indulging in such deceptive activities that you keep the public in the dark. Delhi Vidhan Sabha proceedings are always aired live on our website and YouTube. Lok Sabha proceedings are aired on television. Therefore, these orders of the BJP led MCD are a direct threat to our democracy and violate the fundamentals of transparency in the government,” he added.