TV show that claimed Chhattisgarh women were pressurised to praise Modi goes off air

— By FPJ Web Desk | Aug 03, 2018 04:31 pm

ABP news channel’s lead show ‘Masterstroke’, has been shut after the exit of its anchor Punya Prasun Bajpai, according to Janta Ka Reporter reports. His resignation followed ABP News Network Managing Editor Milind Khandekar quitting his job.

A source in the editorial team told Janta Ka Reporter that Masterstroke will not ‘go on air tonight.’ When asked if the channel has taken a decision to drop the show permanently, the source said, “It’s not very difficult to conclude this, is it? When the anchor himself has quit, why would the channel continue with the show?”.

Earlier, Masterstroke reported suggesting that the PM’s interaction with local women in Chhattisgarh was choreographed. And afterwards, the report Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had reacted angrily to the channel’s coverage.


One Chandramani Kaushik from Chhattisgarh had told Modi in her interaction with the prime minister that her agricultural income had doubled after she switched from cultivating paddy to (‘sitafal’) custard apple farming. However, a report broadcast by Masterstroke on ABP News had later interviewed the same woman, who claimed that officials from Delhi had arrived in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh to instruct her before her interaction with PM Modi, to falsely claim about doubling of income.

However, many viewers had claimed that they are facing issue watching the show, and they have also claimed that it is deliberate intervention by the government.