Television viewers were witness to a shameful incident on Wednesday in which RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav hurled abuses, like ‘goonda’, ‘BJP agent’, at media persons who were asking him uncomfortable questions about the recent CBI raids. This was soon followed by his security staff beating up some media persons who were persistently questioning Yadav. The Bihar politician did not even attempt to stop his security staff.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United) had asked him to reply to the charges of money laundering and benami transactions. But instead of responding to the queries, Tejashwi began a tirade against the journalists. The fact is: FIR has been lodged against him, CBI has conducted raids at his residence, there are charges of acquiring benami properties too. It is the duty of the Fourth Estate to seek replies to these charges. The manner in which his security staff attacked the members of the media indicates that Tejashwi is possibly responsible for this incident. Security personnel would never have raised their hand on media persons without the concurrence of the leader. At least Tejashwi should learn from his father Lalu Prasad, an experienced politician. Serious charges of corruption were levelled against Lalu, he was imprisoned, but he never misbehaved with the media. Whether Lalu or Tejashwi, or for that matter, any other leader, they would have to face the barrage of questions from media, because they are in public life. Media has a special role to play in a democracy, and political leaders should understand this.

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