**Bhubaneswar: ** The political tug of war between the arch rivals, ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has now reportedly prompted the power-hankering bête noire duo to capture the Odisha media houses for influencing the electorate and tilting the 2019 electoral success in their respective favour.
The capital city here is abuzz with startling revelations about owning of media houses by both BJD and BJP in a bid to grind their respective axes for appropriately garnering the majority of votes for wresting power perturbed as well as perked up by the post panchayat poll results.
Reliable sources said that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has virtually bought over the two electronic news channel MBC and News World Odisha through their top leaders.
Talk of the town is that Odisha media baron-cum-former Bhubaneswar MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is in touch with the ruling BJD supremo and may be inducted into the party in near future so that the widely circulated Odia daily ‘Sambad’ and its sister concern Kanak News become suo motu a part and parcel of BJD’s ambitious strategy.
Since on the other hand, BJD MP Baijayant Panda has been embroiled in political controversy of late, sacked from being BJD’s parliamentary party spokesperson and his probable defection into BJP, his family-owned OTV is likely to curry favour with the saffron party.
While ETV News is owned by the Reliance Group and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan (BJP’s Odisha face) is believed to be wielding his clout over it, both OTV and ETV are felt to be singing the paens of BJP.
On the contrary, PrameyaNews7 and Kalinga TV, having business interests reigning supreme, are expected to opt for playing a balancing role between the BJD-ruled Odisha Government and BJP-ruled Central Government.
In his reactions, senior journalist Prasanta Patnaik said, “One who is a moneyed man is able to bring out a newspaper or a news channel. The sole aim behind it is how to capture power and reap benefits for oneself, one’s family and group. Though touted, media is never transparent, clean and impartial. When a person starts a print or electronic media, invests lots of money. Sole aim is at serving vested interests. Instances galore in India that bringing up newspapers or news channels have political parties either involved directly or indirectly. You can’t name a newspaper or media house which is not being controlled by political parties or free from political links.”
Another senior journalist Sandeep Sahu stated, “Political parties are striving to take hold of each media house. It is being done in a bid to promote their respective leaders. And some corporate houses keeping in view their business interests are investing money. As general elections are going to be held in our State in 2019 and the recent panchayat poll results evince that ruling BJD is not all that powerful as had been earlier, facing a challenge for the first time, the tug of war has apparently gained momentum. As a media representative, I’m concerned about such a sorry state of affair at present. It’s because, if the political parties, their leaders and corporate houses dictate terms so far appointments to the media houses and veto on editorial policy are concerned, it would definitely spell doom on media’s credibility and lose people’s trust.”
BJD spokesperson Dibya Shankar Mishra contended, “If any political party has utilised media most, it’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It’s evident from the revelations made by a RTI activist basing on the available information with him that BJP has aided media with advertisements to a whopping Rs 1,100 crore. On the contrary, BJD always reaches media with developmental stories and issues concerning the people’s interests and growth. Media has a very important role to play. Whatever is a fact and the BJD has done for the poor and benefits of general public should be highlighted by the media. BJP’s mere sloganeering shouldn’t be laid more stress by the media, I believe.”
BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma countered, “Media is an autonomous organisation free from shackles. It has its own agenda. The guarantee of democracy is free press. The party who banked on the previous editors are now in a frantic search for new ones. The advertisements issued to media can evince well how much they (BJD) have fed the media for favour.”