Cuts and bruised egos: Row over Maneka8217;s DD interview hots up

NEW DELHI, FEB 24: The dust over Union Minister of State for Welfare Maneka Gandhi's interview on the Doordarshan refuses to settle even ...

NEW DELHI, FEB 24: The dust over Union Minister of State for Welfare Maneka Gandhi8217;s interview on the Doordarshan refuses to settle even after some of her controversial comments relating to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her late husband were censored.

Maneka took exception to censoring of her interview and complained to Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan after the DD censored her interview. But the DD authorities maintain that the cuts can8217;t be restored and the censored part two of the interview would be beamed on Sunday next. The first part was beamed on last Sunday.

When contacted, Maneka confirmed that she did protest about it as quot;I am within my right to do so.quot;

However, O P Kejriwal, director-general of Doordarshan, talking to The Indian Express denied that he censored the interview at the behest of the government. quot;I only informed the minister after effecting the cuts suo-motu.quot; He said the programme code clearly stipulated that nothing obscene and defamatory be allowed onthe network. The producer and the person who conducted the interview accepted cuts when the code was mentioned to them.

Maneka, it may be pointed out, had given a graphic account of how Rajiv and Sonia deserted Indira Gandhi after her defeat during the 1977 general elections, hid themselves for days in an embassy and left the country for months among other details in her interview.

It is learnt that the controversial interview would have been beamed on DD without cuts had Pramod Mahajan not brought it to the notice of Kerjriwal, after some of the Congress leaders protested to him about Maneka8217;s usage of official media to attack Sonia.

Sonia loyalists say that Maneka8217;s quot;baseless and maliciousquot; accusations are aimed at defaming Sonia personally and are as part of BJP hardliners8217; long-term strategy. First, the RSS-VHP tried to rake up the Christians8217; issue and now Maneka8217;s interview.

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When asked Murli Deora, a senior Congress leader and member of some of the trusts headed by Sonia, said, quot;It is a panicreaction to Sonia8217;s popularity. One did not expect them to stoop so low. One wonders why Maneka was silent for 22 years on the issue and chose to attack Sonia now? Above all, why a junior minister was chosen for the two-part interview and she did not speak a word on her ministry?quot;