Margdarshak Mandal absent from BJP’s grand Diwali celebration  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s calling for a debate on the internal democracy in political parties received flak from netizens and journalists alike.

Addressing the Dipawali Mangal Milan organised at the BJP’s headquarter in Delhi, PM Modi said there was a need to debate on internal democracy and added that the growth of “true democratic spirit” within the political parties is necessary for the country’s future. He praised the media for supporting the ‘Swachh Bharat’ (Clean India) mission

While the PM explained the need for internal democracy, party president Amit Shah along with Defence Minister Nirmla Sitharaman, Information and Broadcast Minister Smriti Irani, BJP organisation secretary Ramlal Soni were sitting on the dais. But, there wasn’t any representative from the Margdarshak Mandal along with the party’s top brass.

Senior journalist and founding editor of the news portal The Wire, MK Venu appealed to journalists to boycott PM’s event:

“Whether democratic values are a part of their (parties) core values or not, should be debated widely…. I believe that the development of a true democratic spirit within political parties is necessary not only for the country’s future but also for democracy,” he said. He went on to mention that while funding to political parties is often debated, their values, ideologies and internal democracy weren’t.

Senior journalist Rana Ayyub who wrote a book on Gujarat riots Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up asked journalists whether any of them questioned PM about the ordinance in Rajasthan?

Police officer and a well known Modi critic, Sanjiv Bhat mocked PM’s claim in his tweet: