‘Only 4 min 34 seconds’: Cong alleges less screen time for Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha speech on Manipur

Congress on Wednesday accused public broadcaster Sansad TV of giving less screen time to Rahul Gandhi, who spoke in the Lok Sabha for the first time after being reinstated as the MP.

“In his first speech after coming back from the unjustified disqualification, @RahulGandhi spoke from 12:09pm to 12:46pm i.e. 37 minutes during the No-Confidence Motion. Out of which the Sansad TV camera showed him for ONLY 14 mins 37 seconds. That’s less than 40% screen time! What is Mr. Modi afraid of?” Jairam Ranesh, Congress general secretary in-charge (Communications), posted on X.

“This gets even worse! @RahulGandhi spoke on Manipur for 15 min 42 seconds. During which, Sansad TV’s camera focused on the Speaker Om Birla for 11 min 08 seconds i.e. 71% of the time. Sansad TV showed @RahulGandhi on video for only 4 min 34 seconds while he spoke on Manipur”, Ramesh added.

‘Bharat Mata killed in Manipur’

During his speech in Lok Sabha, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Manipur issue. He said the PM did not visit the northeastern state because for him, Manipur is not in India. “I am saying Manipur but the truth is there is nothing of Manipur left in Manipur. You have divided Manipur into two parts,” he said during the discusssion on no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

“You have killed Mother India in Manipur. My one mom is sitting here and the other mother has been killed in Manipur. Indian army can bring peace in Manipur in one day but you are not using them. You want our soldiers to die”, Gandhi said.

However, Gandhi’s speech was countered by Union minister Smriti Irani. “For the first time a member of Parliament spoke of the ‘death of Mother India’ and their alliance members clapped”, she said.