Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday slammed the government over the arrest of a journalist for questioning state minister for secondary education Gulab Devi at a function on March 12.
"The BJP, which has created hue and cry for giving a statement on the state of democracy in India on foreign soil, should also look at the condition of this journalist in Sambhal, UP, who has been taken into custody for questioning the BJP minister on development works. This is the picture of democracy and freedom of expression in the BJP government," he tweeted.
"Reporter Sanjay Rana in Sambhal asked Gulab Devi, a minister in the BJP government, questions on the issue of development, then the minister put the journalist in jail. If this is not an undeclared emergency and dictatorship in BJP government, then what else is it? BJP only wants sycophancy journalism, it is forbidden to ask questions?," Samajwadi Party's official Twitter handle tweeted.
In the viral video, Rana is seen questioning Devi over unfulfilled poll promises she made during the election campaigns. His questions irked the minister and subsequently he was put behind the bars on the charges of misbehaving at the function where the minister was a guest in Sambhal. However, the scribe got bail later.
The incident drew severe criticism of UP minister Devi on social media. On the other side, the internet hailed Rana for raising questions in front of the minister.
Meanwhile, it comes amid a political slugfest between the Opposition and ruling BJP in Parliament and outside as the saffron party is demanding an apology from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi who criticized Indian democracy under Modi government during his London tour.
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