Row after Rahul Gandhi asks TV reporter if owner of channel is Dalit

“Media ke hain aap? Naam kya hai aapka? Haan? Aap Shiv Prasad ji hain? Aapke maalik ka kya naam hai? Aapke maalik ka kya naam hain? Kya naam hai? Naam bataao. Naam bataao. Bhai maaro mat yaar. Maaro mat usko. Maarna nahin hai. Maarna nahin hai. Naam bataao uska. Wo OBC hai? Nahin. Wo Dalit hai? Nahin. (Are you from the media? What is your name? You are Shiv Prasad ji? What is your owner’s name? What is your owner’s name? What’s the name? Tell me the name. Tell me the name. Don’t hit him. Don’t beat him up. Tell his (owner’s) name. Is he OBC? No. Is he Dalit? No).”

Sources said the incident happened when the journalist was asking Congress workers not to remove his mic and he asked Rahul why he was not being allowed to cover the event properly.

इस हद तक आ पहुंचे ये, शर्मनाक !! pic.twitter.com/e31ZAuZmHl

— Dr. Shalabh Mani Tripathi (मोदी का परिवार) (@shalabhmani) February 20, 2024

UP BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi posted the India News video on X and said, “Shiv Yadav’s only fault was that he was acting like a field journalist, and not like a Congress stooge.”

“He had some injuries… he was quite scared… he may file a case. We are speaking to lawyers in our company. The caste slur, asking the caste, was also not proper. He is a reporter working for a long time. You (Rahul) can’t provoke the crowd and then say ‘mat maaro’ (don’t beat him). They are his own security people. So, he (Rahul) has to be more responsible,” Aishwarya Sharma, who heads Sunday Guardian, which is part of the same group as India News, told The Indian Express.

The Congress dismissed the incident and said Rahul was only flagging the low representation of reserved categories in various sectors. Congress spokesperson P L Punia said: “Nothing like this happened but Rahulji asks in many meetings how many people from eserved categories are there in the media. He also asks about industry, top posts in government… This is part of nyaya (justice).”