The Congress party, which never misses an opportunity to accuse the BJP of stifling press freedom, has once again exposed its hypocrisy through Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s shocking remarks. Disgruntled by online criticism of him and his family, Revanth Reddy openly threatened journalists and dissenters, threatening that those “posing as journalists” and posting against public representatives would be “stripped and paraded in public”.
His authoritarian rhetoric is not just a personal outburst but a blatant attack on free speech and journalistic freedom, something Congress pretends to defend and accuse others of violating. The most shocking part regarding Revanth Reddy’s threat was that he used such language for two women journalists.
For years, Congress has positioned itself as a guardian of democracy, frequently targeting the Modi government with accusations of intimidating the media. However, when faced with criticism, its own leadership resorts to undemocratic threats and police action.
Strikingly, in Telangana, two women journalists running a YouTube channel were arrested for posting a video where a farmer expressed frustration over the Congress’ failure to fulfill election promises.
Instead of addressing the public grievances, Revanth Reddy led Congress government used law enforcement to muzzle dissent. The same Congress that routinely lectures the BJP on press freedom is now criminalizing journalism when the fourth pillar of democracy excercised its constitutional right and exposed the failures of those sitting in power, a true example of speaking “truth to power”.
Going further, Revanth Reddy even proposed a dangerous precedent, suggesting that only government-approved journalists should be allowed to operate. He demanded that media organizations and authorities should “define who is a journalist” and provide the government with a list, warning that others would be treated as criminals. Such an approach mirrors the actions of authoritarian regimes, where only state-controlled media survives while independent voices are crushed. If a BJP leader had made such a statement, Congress-backed media and so-called liberals would have erupted in outrage, calling it a threat to democracy. However, their silence on Revanth Reddy’s remarks exposes their double standards.
Congress’ selective outrage on press freedom is nothing short of laughable. When journalists propagate anti-BJP narratives, Congress calls it “freedom of speech.” But when journalists question Congress’ failures, they are labeled criminals, arrested, and threatened with public humiliation. Under BJP rule, no journalist has ever been “stripped and paraded,” nor has the party proposed a law to define and control who qualifies as a journalist. Meanwhile, Congress-ruled states have witnessed multiple incidents of journalists being arrested and silenced for exposing government corruption and inefficiency.
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Incidentally, Times Now female journalist Bhawana Kishore who got court relief in the false SC/ST case, had aired serious allegations of harassment against the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab. While narrating her ordeal meted out at the behest of AAP government, Bhawana Kishore broke down stating that she was forced to use a toilet with its door opened.
While the state excesses of Congress’ first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, her daughter Indira Gandhi, Gandhi scion Rajeev and under PM Manmohan against media is inexhaustible including curbs on famous personalities like Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and others, the grand old party has not even sparred journalists when it is out of power for more than a decade. The most draconian Congress decree against Journalists came months before the Lok Sabha elections when it issued a black list of over 14 scribes. Ironically, this year, it started with a bang and extracting an apology out of its sympathiser, Rajdeep Sardesai for saying that Rahul Gandhi tore the UPA Cabinet’s ordinance in an act of arrogance. More recently, Congress, still in opposition, had arm twisted India Today journalist Rahul Kanwal at least twice for excercising his constitutional rights.
Furthermore, High Courts of two states namely Rajasthan and Karnataka, had come down heavily on the Congress regime for booking Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in fake news case to “settle scores” and supress journalistic freedoms.
