Headlines
Delhi government willing to support new media venture: Kejriwal
New Delhi, May 10
Under fire over his
"anti-media" circular, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday
suggested that some senior journalists could come together to float
their own "honest and independent" news channel or newspaper and his
government will support any such move.
Interacting with party
volunteers on Google Hangouts, he also asked people to compare
performance of his government to that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
while claiming his Aam Aadmi Party's popularity had further gone up.
Kejriwal,
who has complained about sections of media in the past, said on Sunday
that media shows "us (as being) very aggressive".
"We don't want
to start any media (of our own). But, I think that several good people
in media are also sad over the goings on. If some big people working in
media start their own new channel or a newspaper in a joint effort, the
Delhi government is ready to help them. We want an honest and
independent media which show news, not false news...If anyone wants to
start a good media, Delhi government would help them," he said in answer
to a query.
He, however, did not spell out the "help" his government would offer to any such venture.
The
Kejriwal government and his Aam Aadmi Party have been in the media
spotlight over a range of issues including suicide by a farmer at a
party rally and inner party wrangling. The government also faced strong
criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress for issuing a
circular to its officials to report any news damaging reputation of the
chief minister, his council of ministers and the government.
On
Saturday, the Delhi government had decided to file defamation cases
against media groups for publishing or broadcasting any news that
damages its reputation and the circular asked any official who feels
that a published or aired item damages his or the government's
reputation to file a complaint with the principal secretary (home).
The stand is seen at variance with Kejriwal's own on the issue of defamation in cases faced by him.
On
his first interaction with party volunteers through Google Hangouts
after he became chief minister, Kejriwal said he will continue the
process at least once a month.
Noting that his government will
complete 100 days on May 24 and the central government will complete one
year on May 26, he said: "People should look at the difference between
both the governments."
The chief minister said he keeps a tab on
the working of the legislators and while most legislators were working
fine, some were "a bit lazy."
He claimed that AAP's popularity has increased since it formed the government in February after winning 67 of 70 seats.
"People's affection with our government has increased. We will get 72 percent vote if election was held today," he said.