The most recent journalist-turned-politician and Aam Aadmi Party candidate from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Ashish Khetan, claimed there was no wave for the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi here.
“In the past several days, I have been talking to people and it seems there is no wave as such for Mr. Modi. On the contrary, there is immense support for the AAP,” the former investigative journalist told The Hindu .
Mr. Khetan, the founder of investigative website Gulail.com, is the third journalist after Ashutosh and Jarnail Singh to have been fielded by the AAP in Delhi. He is likely to take on former Union Minister and sitting MP Ajay Maken, who was elected unopposed in the Congress primaries.
Explaining how he plans to take on the BJP and Mr. Maken, Mr. Khetan said his credentials as an “honest” journalist who has been working on issues of public interest for more than a decade will help him connect with the voters in the constituency.
As for leaving journalism for politics, Mr. Khetan, who shot to fame for his investigative stories on Godhra riots and Snoopgate, leading to problems for Mr. Modi, former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah and the Gujarat Government, said the media in its current form and shape was “incapable” of reporting critically on issues like crony capitalism, corruption and red-tapism.
“No one is reporting how natural resources are being destroyed due to the nexus between corporates, government and crony capitalists. Besides, I have never seen a section of the corporate-owned media stooping so low just because it is getting money to create a misinformation campaign against the AAP,” he added.
On AAP’s constant criticism of the media for its alleged biased coverage, Mr. Khetan said his party never attacked the entire media.
“The AAP has never painted the entire fraternity with the same brush. Our attack is not on journalism, but the nexus between corporate ownership of media houses and politicians, which is destroying journalism,” he added.
“The misinformation campaign of the BJP and Congress” tops the list of challenges faced by his party in the general elections in Delhi.
“Of course we do not have as many resources at our disposal as the BJP or the Congress, but this is an opportunity to prove that in a democratic set up ,if we have conviction and are ready for hard work, we can make money irrelevant.”
