What has happened to media, asks Kejriwal

Asking what has happened to the media, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday accused a section of it of promoting the BJP and the Congress.

"What has happened to the media? I am not saying that all media people are bad. But there are some who are promoting the politics of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Congress," he said, addressing hundreds of supporters of the one-year-old Aam Aadmi Party outside Rail Bhavan - the protest site in the heart of Delhi.

"Channels conducted a poll yesterday (Monday) and over 80 percent supported our agitation and have said that what Kejriwal is doing is right but many channels have termed our agitation as anarchic," he said.

Kejriwal, who slept on the roadside Monday night, went on to blame "owners" of media organisations for the biased coverage, accusing them of being either supporters of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi or Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

"The reporters are all fine... it's their bosses who are at fault. Half of them are in cahoots with Narendra Modi and the other half with Rahul Gandhi."

Kejriwal, the 45-year-old activist-turned-politician, in recent interviews to some news channels, thanked the media for supporting the 2011 anti-corruption movement that led to his party's birth the next year.

The discontent with the media took an ugly turn Tuesday afternoon when a reporter of Hindi news channel along with her cameraman were allegedly manhandled by some AAP volunteers for reporting about problems faced by citizens due to the agitation.

Kejriwal, who along with his six cabinet ministers, were agitating on their demand for control over Delhi Police, which is under the union home ministry.

They called off the stir Tuesday evening after Lt.Governor Najeeb Jung intervened, telling them that two of the five police officials they had wanted action against had been shifted out.