Congress defends Vadra, reminds of attacks on media by BJP and allies

The Congress party on Sunday defended businessman and Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's ill treatment of a journalist, reminding the media of similar attacks by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the past.

"There is a guarantee to the right of privacy, the right of personal space and liberty to all individuals, more so when the individual in question is like that of Robert Vadra, who is neither in public life nor holds any political or public office. Unpleasantness of repeatedly asking questions at private functions must be avoided at all times," said Congress leader Randeep Surjewala while justifying his party's stand on the issue.

"Deliberate hounding of an individual on an issue that has been conclusively settled and rejected by a constitutional body like the Election Commission of India, as also by two High Courts, and none less than the highest court in the land the Supreme Court of India, must be stopped at some point in time," he added.

Surjewala also quoted the judgement of the Supreme Court, where it had rejected the petition against Vadra last year.

"I quote the Supreme Court when it rejected the BJP-inspired petition against Robert Vadra. The Supreme Court said 'We won't allow you to destroy somebody's reputation. Merely because somebody is related to a politician, you cannot call him a sinner. It is clear that this entire episode is being propagated with a political agenda for obvious reasons, which can neither be considered as proper nor fair'," he told ANI while quoting the excerpts of the apex court verdict.

The Congress leader also talked of earlier instances involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he as the then-Chief Minister of Gujarat had disregarded questions pertaining to the 2002 riots.

"I want to remind my friends in the media and the Bharatiya Janata Party, who are making an issue out of it, to an incident when the then-Chief Minister and now the honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had thrown the mic and had walked out of a pre-fixed interview when Karan Thapar questioned him on the Gujarat riots," said Surjewala.

"I also want to remind the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leaders as to how Narendra Modi had thrown out two respected journalists, Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt, when he was questioned on the Gujarat riots," he added.

Surjewala also talked of the attacks on news agencies in Mumbai and Delhi by the BJP and its allies in the previous years, referring to them as 'lunatic fringes' of the parties.

"I also want to remind friends in the media and the BJP as to how lunatic fringes in the Shiv Sena, RSS and the BJP cadres have at different points in time attacked the offices of Aaj Tak, Zee Marathi and Zee News, both in Mumbai and Delhi," he said.

"Having said that, I would like to request humbly friends of the media that in this age of professional competition, we must continue to respect social mores as also the privacy of individuals," he added.

On Saturday, Vadra lost his temper and pushed an ANI reporter's mic away, when asked a question about his land deals in Haryana.

"Are you serious? Are you serious? Are you nuts? What is wrong with you," Vadra kept asking repeatedly.

Vadra and his security guards also threatened the reporter and asked him to turn off his camera at an event held at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi, for which ANI had received a formal invitation.