Congress national spokesperson Ragini Nayak has accused India TV editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma of abusing her on live television. A video of the telecast – that was uploaded on the channel’s YouTube account – has been edited to remove the controversial portion. 

Meanwhile, India TV has called the allegations “absolutely false” and said it is taking legal advice for further action. “They are malicious and defamatory and clearly constitute fake news. You have blatantly violated all limits of public decency by falsely accusing a personality of high repute. We are taking legal advice on this to take further action.” 

“We have come to know that you are trying to further compound the imperceivable by proposing a press conference and disseminating the same baseless, false and defamatory news once again. We warn you that you should desist from this. We reiterate that Mr. Sharma has never used abusive language in private or public life,” the channel said.

The incident took place during a show to discuss the election results around 11.30 am on counting day, when the leads for the NDA stood at 286 and INDIA at 243. 

“I have an objection to what Rajat-ji had said. He said that even if the Congress doubles (its seat tally), it’s not a big deal. So since the BJP spokesperson is sitting here, it must be asked today what happened to the 400-paar slogan, and the claim that the tally would automatically cross 370. What happened to all the exit polls being proven wrong?...If you are saying NDA, then you should say INDIA. Or you say ND alliance and then say INDI alliance. At least today you should not have this doublespeak,” Ragini Nayak said.

“Ragini, I don’t want to argue with you much but don’t misquote what I had said. I had said that if the Congress wins 90 seats, it will be considered its victory,” said Rajat Sharma.

“No, you had said that it’s no big deal. I was listening,” she said.

Sharma then purportedly muttered under his breath: “Kya behen***”

Nayak shared the clip on X. “The first video was brought to my attention on X! In this video, @RajatSharmaLive is seen using an obscene curse word against me on air! I did a fact-check! I retrieved the raw footage of this same video from the channel (the second video). What could be a lower level of journalism than this? Do you have any answer, Rajat Sharma?”

Congress media in-charge Jairam Ramesh said, “Rajat Sharma is a famous media personality. He has his own political leanings, but to use such language against a prominent spokesperson of the Congress who is a woman is unacceptable and must be strongly condemned. An unconditional apology is urgently needed in this matter.”

Update at 12.39 pm on June 11: This report has been updated with India TV’s statement.

Update at 8.45 pm on June 11: Ragini Nayak has lodged a complaint at the Tughlak Road police station, alleging offences under IPC sections 294 and 509 and claiming that Sharma threatened legal action only to stop her from initiating criminal action over the incident.

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