After an explosive sting operation by Cobrapost that revealed how media houses were willing to run paid political stories to malign the image of opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi for money, the Congress president took to Twitter to take a jibe at the Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), saying he cannot hate those who hate him.
Tweeting an Indian Express report about the sting operation, Gandhi also said that he feels blessed and honoured that people are making a living out of spreading lies about him. He said that for peddling fake news was just business and that hate is sold for a price.
Gandhi’s tweet comes amid the raging furore over privacy breaches, where both the BJP and Congress have traded barbs about their respective apps giving users’ personal data to third parties.
Operation 136 – Cobrapost’s latest investigative report – released on Monday, 26 March, claimed to have found, through its sting operations, that several Indian media houses agreed to run political campaigns, defame leaders of opposition, and propagate a Hindutva agenda, in exchange for money.
Cobrapost further alleged that media publications “agreed to publish content with a potential to polarise the electorate along communal lines.”
Media houses were also ready to plant stories against BJP leaders, Union Ministers and the ruling party’s alliance partners, framing political conspiracies and reports of in-fighting, for the right price.
Media houses like India TV, Dainik Jagran, Hindi Khabar, SAB TV, DNA (Daily News and Analysis), Amar Ujala, UNI, 9X Tashan, Samachar Plus, HNN 24*7, Punjab Kesari, Swatantra Bharat, ScoopWhoop, Rediff.com, IndiaWatch, Aj and Sadhna Prime News were all allegedly implicated in the sting.
Many of the named organisations later denied the allegations.
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