NewsDrum Informals: Et tu, Brute? DMK to NDTV

New Delhi: As the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections approach, TV channels are making a beeline for Chennai, seeking sponsorships from the DMK government for their conclaves.

The MK Stalin government last month sponsored NDTV’s Tamil Nadu conclave to highlight its achievements over the past five years and spell out its agenda for the upcoming Assembly elections. It appeared to be a marketing event.

However, DMK leaders were upset with NDTV’s editorial team, especially its CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal, for slipping out to meet actor Vijay and discuss the nitty-gritty of the coming polls.

DMK leaders argued that since the state government had sponsored the event, as well as the team’s boarding and lodging, the group should not have met the TVK chief and given him publicity at the government’s expense.

To rub salt into the DMK’s wounds, NDTV team members went public, saying they were impressed by Vijay’s off-camera views on several issues and his responses to their “tough” questions.

Soon after, the DMK government sponsored India Today’s Tamil Nadu Round Table in Chennai to discuss the coming elections. The India Today team also angered DMK leaders by meeting Vijay.

India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai later posted pictures with the TVK chief on social media, prompting DMK leaders to privately claim it was unethical, as the entire logistics, including boarding and lodging, for the summit were provided by the state government.

It was not a coincidence that both Kanwal and Sardesai took the same route to meet Vijay.

You two err, too, Brutus.

(NewsDrum Informals is an editorial feature, focusing on political whispers. It is our constant effort to offer unique and differentiating content to our readers. NewsDrum Informals brings the political grapevine to you and also keeps you abreast with the news circulating in the corridors of power. Stay tuned.

Do write to us at info@newsdrum.in to share your ideas and suggestions for this column.)