Challenges should be fought bravely. But it looks like Ravish Kumar, finding no opportunity to be brave, is perceiving a business deal as a challenge. He is a self-proclaimed torch bearer of real journalism who is facing a big hit from somewhere he worked for decades. He created a deception around Adani group’s takeover of NDTV, to project himself as the only journalist to scare the government. But after his resignation from NDTV, the founders of the channel thwarted his sympathy seeking agenda through a public statement.
Barkha Dutt demolishes Ravish Kumar
On Dec 23, 2022, Barkha Dutt, a former reporter and anchor of NDTV, tweeted the statement of NDTV founder, Prannoy and Radhika Roy. Barkha Dutt is herself a staunch critic of right-wing narratives. In her tweet she validates her belief that the Adani group deal to take over NDTV is mutual, friendly and opposite of hostile.
The statement of Radhika and Prannoy Roy reads,” Since the Open Offer was launched, our discussions with Mr. Gautam Adani have been constructive; all the suggestions we made were accepted by him positively and with openness.”
After the Adani Group became the single largest shareholder of NDTV, the founders were left with 32.26% shares. If there was any hostility, why would they plan to sell another 27.26% of those shares as 32.26% was not the biggest but was still an influential amount to hold. It could have given them a voice on the agendas.
Also read: Punah Mushako Bhavah – Ravish Kumar: From being a nobody to being a nobody in 26 Years
Timeline of Adani Group-NDTV deal
It all started when AMG Media Network bought Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL), which had lent Rs 403.85 crore to RRPR Holding, a promoter group company of NDTV. RRPR Holding held 29.18% stake in NDTV. VCPL was issued warrants by RRPR that allowed it to convert the warrants into a 99.9% stake in case the loan was not paid back.
Later, in November, according to SEBI guidelines, Adani group bought 29.18% shares of RRPR Holdings through an open letter. After resignation of the Roy couple from their position, Ravish too resigned from NDTV. He resigned after the anticipation of Adani becoming the biggest shareholder. This shows that he resigned because he did not want to work under someone whom he always criticised unnecessarily. So, there was only an ego problem because a real journalist would fight the circumstances and expose the reality from inside until they are forcefully expelled.
Interestingly, in December, additional 8.27% shares were acquired by VCPL leading to total shares of Adani group reaching 37.45%. According to a report, the Roy couple agreed to sell 27.26% of their combined shares to the Adani Group. The Adani Group will now hold a firm grip on NDTV with a majority 64.71% shares.
Ravish’s propaganda is becoming unbearable
It is well known fact that Ravish Kumar has personal enmity with the Modi government. This has been evident due to various incidents from time to time. One such incident happened during January 2021. While farmer protests were going on near national capital, he reported falsified facts regarding the procurement of paddy.
He confused the viewers by comparing paddy procurement with rice. While rice is extracted by de-husking paddy, the weight of the extracted rice is always less than paddy processed. The data backing such a propaganda was shown by cropping the tweet of Mr. Piyush Goyal with intent to deceive the viewers.
Also read: Intra-left gang-war between Ravish Kumar and the Quint is too spicy to miss
And how is the narrative of Adani spending huge amounts of money only to silence him, which according to him was done because he criticised the Modi government even justified? How can Modi government be responsible for everything that is happening to him?
Since, he is not the part of NDTV any more, Ravish is playing the victim card to get sympathy and gather audience for any new platform he uses to serve his vicious propaganda. But this time he failed miserably because the Roys have busted his agenda in a subtle way.
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