Aaj Tak, Zee News introduce BJP spokesperson as ‘farmer leader’ for discussions on Lakhimpur violence

While discussing the violence that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, both Aaj Tak and Zee News held debates on October 5 and October 7 respectively, with spokespersons from various political parties as panelists. One of the panelists, Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal, was introduced as a farmer leader, despite the fact that Dhaliwal describes himself as a BJP spokesperson on his Twitter handle.

On her show Dangal, Aaj Tak’s Chitra Tripathi said she was joined by “farmer leader Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal.” The text under Dhaliwal’s video on the channel said “farmer leader” as well. Sadly for Dhaliwal, technical issues did not permit him to contribute much to the discussion.

Similarly on October 7, Zee News held a special edition of the show Taal Thok Ke, in which anchor Sachin Arora also introduced Dhaliwal as a farmer leader. During the show, Dhaliwal spoke in support of the BJP and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath. When Samajwadi Party politician Ghanshyam Tiwari pointed out that Dhaliwal was a BJP spokesperson, the show quickly segued to coverage of the deaths of two civilians in Kashmir.

According to his Twitter bio, Dhaliwal is indeed a BJP spokesperson and a proud panelist on channels like Republic TV, India Today and Zee News. He’s also the chairman of the Kisan Cooperative Farming Federation India, though Newslaundry was unable to find much detail about it online, or whether it’s associated with the farmer protests.