Chennai: Tamilnadu Information Technology Minister Mano Thangaraj has condemned State BJP president Annamalai for saying the media in the State would be ‘brought under control within six months’.
“His statement is an intimidating one. It is highly condemnable,” Mano Thangaraj said.
Stating that the media has to work independently and should be given the freedom to do so, Thangaraj added: ‘I see Annamalaiās remarks as a way of coercing the media into being favourable to one party, while the media have the responsibility to uphold freedom of expression.’
Annamalai, who was carrying out roadshows and addressing BJP carders for the past couple of days, sparked a row on Thursday after he asked partymen not to bother about media carrying negative news about the BJP.
Former State president L Murugan has been appointed as the Minister of state for the Information and Broadcasting and all the media will now be under his Ministry, Annamalai said.
“There cannot be āwrongsā continuously. The media cannot continuously project false news. Such news cannot be used for politics,” he added.