Veteran journalist Barkha Dutt announced on Thursday morning that her media company, TheMojo, will not be doing any shows on the upcoming state election results.
Counting of votes for the Assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala is scheduled to take place on May 2 (Sunday).
Barkha Dutt tweeted on Thursday, "At @themojostory we will not be doing any shows on the state election results . The rallies have been immoral & criminal , an affront to health workers and to all our families who have lost loved ones to COVID. Way more egregious than the tone deaf IPL. Does not deserve air time."
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Barkha Dutt and TheMojo had reported from multiple places in India on the impact of the virus and the plight of migrants left to fend for themselves. During the second wave of COVID-19, Barkha Dutt had reported from multiple places, including crematoriums. This had attracted criticism from some social media users, who had alleged the reporting was offensive. Barkha Dutt had lost her father to COVID-19 earlier this week.
The conduct of the Election Commission, which organised and oversaw the elections, and the behaviour of various political parties in the recent poll campaign had attracted much criticism.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have all witnessed rapid increases in number of COVID-19 cases since the campaigning began. On Wednesday, TMC MP Saugata Roy had alleged the Election Commission and the Narendra Modi government were 'super spreaders' who had “the blood of COVID-19 patients on their hands”. The TMC had repeatedly appealed to the Election Commission to club the multiple phases of polling in West Bengal, but the poll panel had refused.
Earlier this week, the Madras High Court had observed the Election Commission was the sole body responsible for the second wave and warned its officials could face murder charges.
