New Delhi: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore on Monday slammed a section of media for what he said "unapologetically aligning themselves to the agenda of deriding Prime Minister Narendra Modi'' and wondered whether nation will trust "such misleading news".
"Yeh kaisa journalism hae (What kind of journalism is this)," wrote Mr Rathore on the Twitter in reference toa Hindi TV news channel and said "to spread falsehood and mislead the country is against the ethics of responsible journalism".
"Some journalists have agenda first, and then comes news. Will nation trust them aftr such misleading news?,"he tweeted with the hashtag "#UnfortunateJournalism".
In another missive, he wrote: "Some media houses have unapologetically aligned themselves to the agenda of deriding PM Narendra Modi 's efforts by all means. Despicable! The real story of Chhattisgarh's farmer women who rubbished the claims of a section of media".
He also shared the link of the story that claims - "A peasant woman from Chhattisgarh has trashed reports in a section of the media that PM Narendra Modi misrepresented her story in a recent online interaction with farmers.These reports suggested that the PM had falsely woven the story of success achieved by Chandramani Kaushik from Kanker district in Chhattisgarh".
The report alleged that the journalists have 'twisted' her words and used them selectively.Mr Rathore, winner of silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games, is not the only Information and Broadcasting Minister under Prime Minster Narendra Modi to be in news.
Former I&B Minister Smriti Irani also made news when an order from the ministry on 'fake news' vis-a-vis the role of journalists was withdrawn by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in April this year.
In 2014-15, Information and Broadcasting Ministry was in major row when the students of Pune-based premier Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) had resisted the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as its Chairman.(UNI)