A video showing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal asking a TV news anchor to play up particular parts of his interview went viral on YouTube on Sunday night.
The news channel, Aaj Tak, termed the video as a “motivated campaign” against it and clarified that the interview, which was telecast on February 14, was not edited. “The interview was aired live in full on all platforms of the India Today Group,” the news channel said.
The development comes even as Mr. Kejriwal has been accusing the media of being prejudiced against the AAP. The over-a-minute video shows Mr. Kejriwal and the news anchor in an off-the-record conversation after the interview.
In the video, the AAP leader is seen asking the anchor to “please play it up more”. The news anchor responds in agreement to Mr. Kejriwal’s request, saying, “Yes, we will play it up. The Bhagat Singh (comment) is good. We will get a lot of reaction to this.”
In a statement released to the media on Monday, Aaj Tak said: “A video clip showing an Aaj Tak anchor in conversation with Mr. Kejriwal is being circulated as part of a motivated campaign to malign Aaj Tak’s reputation as an independent channel.”
“In the conversation, Mr. Kejriwal is asking the anchor to highlight parts of the interview. The India Today Group wishes to categorically state that no part of the interview was edited by our network. The entire interview was telecast live. Even during the repeat broadcast, the entire content of the interview was carried unedited,” clarified the news channel.
When contacted, an AAP spokesperson told The Hindu that there is no reason for any controversy in the video. “The video is an attempt to distract public questioning of development in Gujarat where Mr. Kejriwal visited last week,” the spokesperson said.
