On 4th November 2022, Delhi’s chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal held a joint press conference with Punjab’s chief minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann. The press conference in Delhi was about the stubble burning issue in Punjab that is causing severe air pollution in the national capital. But the conference became controversial after several photojournalists were not allowed to cover it.
प्रदूषण पर पंजाब के मुख्यमंत्री के साथ एक संयुक्त प्रेस वार्ता। https://t.co/0bLYYvVBul
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 4, 2022
Photojournalists from certain media houses were not allowed in the Aam Aadmi Party’s press conference. The news websites include The Print headed by Shekhar Gupta, The New Indian Express, and The Morning Standard. It is notable that The Morning Standard and The New Indian Express belong to the same group of media that also owns the Sunday Standard.
Swatantra Bhattacharya heading the group wrote a series of tweets to share this information. She tagged Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, and AAP Delhi in her tweet. She also speculated that it was because these news websites covered the irregularities and alleged corruption by the AAP governments in the allotment of liquor-selling permits.
She wrote in her tweet, “AAP goes down censorship route. Photojournalists from The New Indian Express and The Morning Standard were disallowed from the Kejriwal-Bhagwat Mann presser. Why throw out photojournalists? Is the extra hospitality bcoz of our Liquorgate and Hawalagate reports?”
#AAP goes down censorship route.
— santwanabhattacharya (@santwana99) November 4, 2022
Photojournalists from @NewIndianXpress / @TheMornStandard disallowed from Kejriwal-Bhagwat Mann presser.
Why throw out photogs, @ArvindKejriwal @BhagwantMann @AAPDelhi ?
Is the extra hospitality bcoz of our Liquorgate and Hawalagate reports?
She further wrote, “The same treatment was meted out to the photographer from a prominent news website. For reasons best known to AAP.” She tagged Pravin Jain in this tweet who is the national photo editor of ‘The Print’.
The same treatment was meted out to the photographer from a prominent news website. For reasons best known to #AAP
— santwanabhattacharya (@santwana99) November 4, 2022
@PraveenJain2622
Both these tweets were shared at around 11:45 am on November 4. After a brief wait for the response, Swatantra Bhattacharya added one more tweet to the thread in which she wrote, “No answer yet on why The New Indian Express, The Morning Standard, and The Print photographers were made to stay out of the AAP presser.” In this tweet she also added that photographer from The Print was also not allowed at the press conference.
No answer yet on why @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard and @ThePrintIndia photographers were made to stay out of the #AAP presser.@ArvindKejriwal @BhagwantMann@ShekharGupta
— santwanabhattacharya (@santwana99) November 4, 2022
Pravin Jain – the photo editor of ‘The Print’ – replied to this tweet. He wrote in this tweet, “This is not fair by AAP Party. Photographers are not involved in any politics. Their job is to only take photos. When Anna Hazare quit India movement was going on visual media extensively documented it.”
This is not fair by AAP Party. Phograhers are not involved in any politics. Their job is to only take photos. When Anna Hazare quit India movement was going on visual media extensively documented it.
— Praveen Jain (@PraveenJain2622) November 4, 2022
In this press conference, the AAP government in Punjab took the responsibility for the stubble burning in Punjab and the subsequent air pollution in Delhi. However, both Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann failed to provide a concrete plan of how they are going to address this issue in the upcoming year as they claimed that by the next November, there will be a significant reduction in the stubble burning and air pollution problem.
