Murli Manohar Joshi flays assault on media

Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Saturday deplored the attack on media in Mumbai. He, however, advised the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’ to handle sensitive issues with utmost care.

Joshi gave his reaction here after he came to know that print and electronic media-men were attacked in Mumbai while covering a protest rally at Azad Maidan on Assam violence.Joshi was also critical of Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and said his performance in the House was deplorable when, while discussing Assam violence, he taunted a Rajya Sabha member saying “the matter was not related to films.”

The former minister questioned Prime Minister’s assertion on Saturday that the economy would be put back on the rails. “When the industrial production has dipped, agriculture production has declined, farmers are committing suicide, confidence among Indian firms is weak, inflation and corruption are high, how can Manmohan Singh be confident that GDP will be better than last fiscal,” he wondered.

Joshi, however, steered clear of controversy over Nitish’s oft-repeated demand for naming the NDA prime-ministerial candidate much before the 2014 elections. “The BJP will do so at an appropriate time,” he said, refusing to be drawn into the row.