"The right thing for the channel (CNN-IBN) would have been to show it (the cash for votes tape) and let people draw their own conclusions."
—L.K. Advani
How BJP's hopes for a two-pronged attack on the bribery issue fell flat
"The right thing for the channel (CNN-IBN) would have been to show it (the cash for votes tape) and let people draw their own conclusions."
—L.K. Advani
What is there in the five tapes submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee by CNN-IBN on July 23? According to sources, there are three key sequences:
So why didn’t the channel telecast its sting operation? Sources at CNN-IBN told Outlook that the matter was debated intensely by the top editorial team for five hours. But, as a senior staff member of the channel points out, "Before we could take a call on the story, the BJP MPs rushed into Parliament and declared the sequence of events, thus blowing our cover. At that time we felt that we needed to dig a lot more to complete our investigation conclusively and beyond the pale of any doubt."
The BJP leaders, however, allege that the channel was pressured by the government into not telecasting the scoop. The party had expected CNN-IBN to air the story even as its MPs dramatically displayed the wads of notes in Parliament. In fact, Advani had said on the evening of the trust vote that a prominent channel would telecast the damning tapes. But sometime, somewhere the script went wrong.
Those in the know told Outlook that there is enough on the tapes to merit a police investigation. A source in CNN-IBN points out: "There are enough leads which the police have the powers to investigate. However, for us, journalistic ethics demanded that the tapes be submitted to the Speaker and not be aired in their present form."