P Chidambaram has more faith in 'fake' foreign media: BJP MP

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP and BJP’s national media head Anil Baluni on Thursday attacked Congress leader P Chidambaram for his comments on the Indian media and said the former finance minister had more faith in "fake" foreign media than his own country's press. Participating in the debate on the budget in Rajya Sabha, Baluni termed Chidambaram’s comments an insult to Indian media and asked the deputy Speaker to expunge the remarks if possible.

He was responding to Chidambaran's comments earlier in the day where he said international organisations did not watch "tamed" Indian television channels and asked BJP to "respect democracy ". “Chidambaram said in the House that Indian media is tamed. During his turn, he said various negative and condemnable things about Indian media. I would like to request you that whatever he has said about the media should be expunged from the records if that is possible," Baluni said.

Attacking the former minister, he said the Congress government had more faith in foreign media and it reflected in their governance as well. “There are many people in this country who do not even like getting their clothes washed in this country. There have been such people in the past and they do not like India or its culture. They don't even like India's leadership and they don't like if India is praised anywhere in the world. But it is a fact that they like to rule in India. It is a very sad state of affairs," Baluni said.

"I would like to tell Chidambaram that there is no harm in liking foreign media and foreign culture, we don't have a problem with that but don't insult Indian media," he further said. His comments led to heated exchanges between Congress and BJP members. This, however, did not deter Baluni who continued his attack on the Congress leader. “The party (Congress) doesn’t like the med-ia and this is not a new thing. We have seen how they gagged the media during Emergency and everyone including media is aware of that," he added.