A video showing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal asking an Aaj Tak news anchor to emphasize certain sections of his interview that he thinks would resonate with the masses went viral on YouTube sparking controversy.
The video, which is over a minute long, was recorded after Kejriwal stepped down as Delhi CM in February. It shows Kejriwal and the news anchor in an off-the-record conversation after the interview. The last part of the clip shows Kejriwal asking the anchor to give emphasis to certain segments of the interview and the journalist agrees saying that the portion was krantikaari (revolutionary) and would get a lot of reaction to it. “Please play it up more,” Kejriwal said in the video. To this, the TV anchor was seen saying: “Yes, we will play it up. The Bhagat Singh (comment) is good. We will get a lot of reaction to this.”
The channel issued a statement calling the video, which got nearly 5 lakh hits in 24 hours, as part of a “motivated campaign to malign Aaj Tak’s reputation”. “In the conversation, Arvind Kejriwal is asking the anchor to highlight parts of the interview. The India Today Group wishes to state that no part of the interview was edited by our network. The entire interview was telecast live. Even during the repeat broadcast the interview content was carried unedited,” it said.
The AAP declined to comment on the issue.