The love story that is Republic TV and BJP

On May 6, when Arnab Goswami returned to the television news space with a “super exclusive” on theLalu-Shahbuddin connection, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were ecstatic.

They took to Twitter to extend their warm wishes to Goswami and welcomed him back.

Besides the biggies, spokespersons and Members of Parliament also welcomed Goswami back to the television space.

This didn’t come as a surprise to anyone since it is known that the National Democratic Alliance’s Vice-Chairman in Kerala, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, is a prominent investor in Republic TV. The support and, umm, warmth exhibited by BJP leaders to the channel nevertheless has been talk on Twitter considering this government’s general antipathy towards the media.

Meanwhile, Amit Malviya, national head of BJP’s Information Technology, assured India Today anchor Rahul Kanwal yesterday that BJP was merely extending common courtesy to Republic TV.

A while ago he had wondered aloud if anyone was watching anything other than Republic TV.

The one BJP leader who isn’t quite ecstatic about theRepublic’s launch is, of course, the inimitable Subramanian Swamy. He had earlier dubbed Goswami “ignoramus, stupid, liar”.

Swamy, however, explained that he wasn’t against the people who “owned” the channel, which explains his presence on Republic TV despite all his animosity towards Goswami.