On Sunday, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC in Telangana K Kavitha hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not holding a single press conference in the previous nine years.
Speaking at the second state-level conference of the Telangana Union of Working Journalists in Patancheru, near here, Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said the Prime Minister has “avoided” direct interaction with journalists so far but does give select interviews.
“Our misfortune is such that in the last nine years the Prime Minister has never held a open press conference once. As far as I know no journalist asked him any question. Because he (Modi) gives interviews to a select few. But, here (in Telangana) our Chief Minister conducts press conference with 300 to 350 journalists and answers the questions raised by reporters,” she said.
Stating that a leader should be transparent and responsible, Kavitha said the Prime Minister should be invited to ‘Meet the Press’ and added “we are with you and let’s question him and see”.
The former MP from Nizamabad further claimed that the situation has become such that when “we leaders ask question then it is dubbed as political. But when you journalists ask questions it will be neutral and it will be that of people”.
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She urged Modi to provide funds for the welfare of journalists on par with the Telangana government’s initiatives.
Kavitha stated that the Telangana government prioritises journalist issues. She claimed that the government had granted Rs 100 crore for the welfare of journalists in the state, but that the Centre had never been concerned about journalists.
Expressing concern over the “disappearance” of investigative journalism, she also sought to know an example of investigative journalism in the country and added, “let it be on our own government…(there is) no problem”.
According to Kavitha, some unrecognised media organisations were at the forefront of spreading false information about the Telangana government.
The conference was attended by Telangana Minister V Srinivas Goud, MLA Kranti Kiran, Media Academy Chairman Allam Narayana, and several delegates from various states.
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