Logo

Samajbadi cadres vandalize Avenues TV office after interview with Upendra Yadav goes wrong



Avenues

KATHMANDU, May 13: The angry cadres of Samajbadi Party Nepal has vandalized the Birgunj office of Avenues Television, a popular and leading news channel in Nepal, according to sources.

The cadres were furious after the interview with Samajbadi Party Chair, also the Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister, Upendra Yadav went wrong on Sunday evening.

Police have suspected the cadres of Samajbadi have hand in the deliberate damage of the media office, sources said.

Samajbadi Party was formed recently following the unification with Naya Shakti Party led by Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai.

HOW INTERVIEW WENT WRONG?

Chair Yadav was invited in a popular Avenues television talk show ‘Sakas Rajniti’ hosted by journalist Sushil Pandey.

The 16-minute long interview was full of drama and tension that the deputy prime minister had to leave the interview in the middle disappointed.

The interview started with a sarcasm followed by a smile, but soon, the conversation dramatically turned sour after the host Pandey complained that people did not need extraordinary (stable government with the two-thirds majority at the House) government to do ordinary works.

When Chair Yadav said that people have high ambitions, Pandey replied it is not the people but the government who has high ambitions.

Yadav insisted that with the country getting a stable government led by the Nepal Communist Party, people’s ambitions, aspirations have grown. But circumstances are that the government cannot fulfill all of them immediately.

Pandey asked has the government fulfilled the minimum requirements of the people?

Yadav said there are some positive changes occurring such as increase in growth rate, improvement in average age… But Pandey interrupted Yadav using some half-witted phrases ..”it’s raining…the monsoon has arrived..its snowing in the mountain… these cannot be called the extraordinary achievements of the extraordinary government.”

Yadav should have thought the interviewer is not giving him the respect he deserves as the guest of the show.

Yadav responded soon telling Pandey ‘tapai nauphranus na’ (don’t speak nonsense)…, and soon the debate gradually started to take the wrong turn.

Questions after questions served and Yadav was left unanswered and was not given a chance to answer the questions properly.

The conversation got more heated when the issue of press freedom was put on the table in the wake that the government is being widely criticized for curtailing press freedom bringing Media Bill.

When Yadav said we have fought and gone to jail fighting for press freedom, Pandey responded saying press can maintain press freedom itself even at gunpoint.

Yadav then left the interview after Pandey told him “you can go if you don’t have the gut to the answer the questions.”

Yadav angrily detached the mic, stood up from the chair and left the room.

See the Video:

Comment