Sugitha Sarangaraj, a News7 Tamil anchor known for her DMK bias, abruptly muted the microphone of an AIADMK spokesperson during a debate for criticizing the DMK.
Chief Minister M.K.Stalin has returned to Tamil Nadu after a nine-day official visit to Singapore and Japan. When he returned to Chennai, the Chief Minister announced that he had attracted investments worth ₹3,233 crore. However, Opposition leader Edappadi Palaniswami has criticized the Chief Minister’s foreign tour as a failure and referred to MK Stalin’s official trip as a “happy vacation.”
In this context, on 1 June 2023, News7 Tamil held a debate titled “What is the intention of opposition parties criticizing the Chief Minister’s foreign visit?” The bias of News7 Tamil began with the title, which did not discuss whether the CM’s visit was successful or not, but instead chose a title that casts doubt on opposition parties’ criticism.
As part of the debate, News7 Tamil held a poll with four options, with 3 in favor of DMK: “a. Opposition is doing politics, b. Opposition criticizing for the sake of criticizing, c. Opposition doing for publicity,” The fourth option also avoided criticizing the DMK, instead saying that there is merit in criticizing the opposition. The fourth option stated, “Opposition wanted to highlight flaws.”
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan while giving his final remarks said, “We must wait and see what the outcome of this foreign trip will be, as companies already present in India have been invited again by CM Stalin. But we see this trip as a vacation of MK Stalin (as said by Edappadi Palanisamy)”
Sugitha Sarangaraj, a DMK supporter disguised as an anchor, couldn’t take the AIADMK spokesperson’s criticism of CM Stalin’s official visit as a vacation trip. She said, “You should not be speaking in public like this. You should be respectful in your criticism. You are free to speak in this manner at your party’s public meeting.”
Hitting back at the DMK bias of the anchor Sugitha, AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said,”What offensive remarks did I make? How can I make a more dignified criticism? When are you going to stop acting like a DMK spokesperson and start acting like an anchor? I simply stated that these companies already exist in India, so why should CM Stalin travel to Singapore and Japan to bring them here? ”
Sugitha began fumbling and mispronouncing words after being caught on air by the AIADMK spokesperson. She said that people watching the show will decide, and that she has no political bias. Fumbling further, she said that she has been working in the news industry for the past 18 years and that she is saying this in response to his “assassination” attempts on her.
Sugitha then abruptly muted the AIADMK spokesperson’s microphone.
AIADMK Kovai Sathyan responded to the incident on Twitter, saying, “It is my duty to speak out in public about my leader Edappadiyar’s civilized criticism of the CM’s trip as a ‘vacation.’ It is my duty to speak in a public forum about the civilized criticism of my leader Edappadiyar calling the CM’s trip a ‘vacation.’ If a news anchor says that our civilized criticism is disrespectful, it is my responsibility to expose the DMK supporter masquerading as the anchor.”
It is worth noting that News7 Tamil anchor Sugitha Sarangaraj previously worked for DMK-owned Kalaignar and Sun TV before joining News7 Tamil.
இன்ப சுற்றுலா என்று என் தலைவன் #எடப்பாடியார் வைத்த நாகரீக விமர்சனத்தை பொதுவெளியில் பேசுவது என் கடமை.அது நாகரீகம் இல்லை பொது மேடையில் பேசவும் என்று ஊடகத்தில் பணிபுரியும் நெறியாளர் சொன்னால் நெறியாளர் எனும் போர்வையில் திமுகவிற்கு மூட்டு பற்றி கேள்வி கேட்பதும் என் கடமை. #நடுநிலை pic.twitter.com/jLFKrkmi6m
— Kovai Sathyan (@KovaiSathyan) June 2, 2023
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