Speaking about I.N.D.I.A bloc members boycotting various news TV anchors, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar denied knowledge of the boycott on Saturday. "I have no idea about this...I am in support of journalists," Kumar told reporters on Saturday, news agency ANI reported. Kumar went on to say that certain members of the I.N.D.I.A bloc may have sensed there were issues, therefore they made the choice.
On the I.N.D.I.A alliance's decision to boycott several TV news anchors, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar stated: "I have no idea about this...I am in support of journalists. When everyone gets full freedom, journalists will write what they like. Are they controlled? Have I ever done it? They have rights, I am not against anyone. Right now those who are at the Centre have controlled a few people...Those who are with us must have felt that something is happening. However, I am not against anyone. If journalists have full freedom, they will write what they like. Everyone has their rights."
On Thursday, a day following the I.N.D.I.A. Coordination Committee's decision, the bloc's Working Group on Media released a list of 14 TV anchors whose shows the member parties will not send representatives to.
The anchors to be boycotted by I.N.D.I.A bloc members are Arnab Goswami (Republic TV), Aditi Tyagi (Bharat Express), Amish Devgan and Aman Chopra (News18 Hindi), Anand Narasimhan (CNN-News18), Ashok Shrivastav (DD News), Sudhir Chaudhary and Chitra Tripathi (Aaj Tak), Navika Kumar (Times Now), Gaurav Sawant and Shiv Aroor (India Today TV), Prachi Parashar (India TV), Rubika Liaquat (Bharat 24) and Sushant Sinha (Times Now Navbharat).