New Delhi: Senior editor and one of the best known faces on Indian TV, Ashutosh has formally announced that he has quit his job and decided to join hands with Arvind Kejriwal and company. Ashutosh is the latest in a long list of professionals who have announced that they will be joining AAP.
Ever since Rakhi Birla, an intern who once manned the ticker in Jain TV, won her seat in the Delhi Assembly elections after defeating a Congress stalwart, many journalists had been secretly toying with the idea of joining the Aam Aadmi Party.
From aviation tycoon Captain Gopinath to banking top honcho Meera Sanyal to danseuse Mallika Sarabhai several high-profile citizens have taken the political plunge. Many in the Indian middle-class who spend a better part of their free time berating India's netas and cursing the country's crooked political system, suddenly feel they can be part of a historic change.
The Congress and the BJP are both architectured in a way that makes it difficult for a free thinking citizen to climb the political ladder. No matter how high one rises in the Congress, a leader always has to be subservient to 10 Janpath and in the BJP necessarily pay obeisance to the mandarins in Nagpur. The right to contest in the elections too is mostly reserved for family members of party stalwarts or for those closest to the powers that be. The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party, which is looking to scale up before the Lok Sabha elections, is desperate for candidates who can put up a fight and propagate its message nationwide. The party's national aspiration has given wings to the political ambition of those who felt stifled by the existing political order.
Ashutosh joins Manish Sisodia, Shazia Ilmi and Rakhi Birla in the list of journalists who have played a major role in shaping the Aam Aadmi Party. Sisodia, now a senior minister in the new Delhi government, is Kejriwal's closest associate. He gave up his job as a producer at Zee News to become the first volunteer to sign up for Kejriwal's NGO Parivartan. Shazia Ilmi was a prominent anchor on the Hindi channel Star News before joining the anti-corruption movement. The most meteoric rise though has been of Rakhi Birla, a 26 year old journalist from Jain TV who not only defeated four time MLA and former PWD minister Raj Kumar Chauhan by a massive 10,500 votes in Mangolpuri but also went on to become the Women and Child and Social Welfare minister in the Delhi government. Rakhi was working as a reporter on the anti-corruption beat when she came in touch with Kejriwal and got converted to the cause full time.
For Ashutosh too it was a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome. He has been on the vanguard of reporting on the anti-corruption movement. Unlike other editors who have been venting from the comforts of their studios, Ashutosh has been sweating in the sun and reporting from the trenches at Ram Lila Maidan and Jantar Mantar. He shares an ideological affinity with AAP's left of centre world view and has always shaped himself as an activist journalist.
Ashutosh even wrote a book on Hazare's agitation, 'Anna: 13 Days That Awakened India.' Before joining IBN7, Ashutosh worked with Aajtak for 11 years, rising from a correspondent in the channel to the post of Executive Producer at TV Today. He came into prominence in 1996 when he was slapped by BSP leader Kanshi Ram who was bent on forcing journalists gathered outside his house to leave. Ashutosh stood his ground demanding a sound bite and was slapped across the face by a furious BSP supremo.
After mulling over weeks on whether or not to take the political dive, Ashutosh made his decision public this morning. On the social media site Twitter, he wrote, 'These are historic moments, societal churning is on, everybody has to contribute to make the change robust and beautiful. Eight years back I changed my course, now there is another time, another call of destiny, have to swim.' Ashutosh is waiting to be relieved at IBN7. He will officially join the Aam Aadmi Party immediately thereafter. CNN-IBN's Managing Editor Vinay Tewari is stepping in to take his place at IBN7.
It is learnt that Ashutosh is seriously contemplating fighting the Lok Sabha elections on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket although no decision has been taken so far on which seat he will contest from and against whom. Kejriwal is likely to induct Ashutosh into the top decision making rung of AAP. Along with Yogendar Yadav, Ashutosh is likely to add to the fire power of AAP's media battery. For a party that sustains itself on oxygen supplied by 24-hour TV, another firebrand spokesperson is a handy weapon to have in the arsenal.
Journalists joining politics is not a new phenomenon. From MJ Akbar to Chandan Mitra, recent history is replete with examples of high profile and even lesser known journalists wading into political waters. Attempts to make a comeback into full time journalism though have been disastrous and this is one Lakshman Rekha which can be crossed only once.
For TV viewers, Ashutosh's decision will make people question the political biases of their favourite TV anchors and wonder if behind the public proclamations of neutrality there lies a deep bias. But it is better that Ashutosh choose to take the political plunge instead of masquerading as an unbiased journalist. When in someone's mind one view point supersedes all others it is better to declare leanings than claim a faux neutrality.
The mission of journalism can be carried forward only by those who are prepared to ask tough questions of all parties without fear or favour and not secretly be rooting for one cause. Over the next few weeks there may be more surprises in store with some other high profile citizens rushing to Kejriwal's embrace.
