Cong's Ragini Nayak files police complaint against India TV's Rajat Sharma for on-air abuse

Congress national spokesperson Ragini Nayak lodged a complaint with the Tughlaq Road police station in Delhi against India TV Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, accusing him of abusing her on live television. Nayak also demanded an unconditional apology during a press conference on Tuesday.

Nayak alleged Sharma of verbal abuse directed towards her.

“The unwarranted use of abusive language on national television against a woman panelist (without any provocation) directly attracts the rigours of the IPC. The gravity of the situation is amplified by the very fact that such abusive statements were made by a senior journalist like Mr Sharma on a show broadcast on national television…” reads the complaint by Nayak.

Nayak also posted the video clip on X, stating, "The first video was brought to my attention on 'X'! In this video, @RajatSharmaLive is seen using an obscene curse word against me On Air! I did a fact-check! I retrieved the raw footage of this same video from the channel (the second video). What could be a lower level of journalism than this? Do you have any answer, Rajat Sharma?"

India TV has denied the allegations and issued a “warning” to Nayak, along with Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh on social media, threatening legal action.

The incident allegedly occurred during a discussion on election results around 11.30 am on 4 June, when the NDA leads were at 286 and INDIA at 243. In her complaint, Nayak claimed Sharma’s actions constitute “offences punishable under sections 294 and 509 of the IPC.”

The Congress party has demanded a public apology from Rajat Sharma. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on social media, stating, "Rajat Sharma is a famous media personality. He has his own political leanings, but for a key spokesperson of the Congress, who is a woman, to be subjected to such derogatory language is completely unacceptable and should be strongly condemned. There is an urgent need for an unconditional public apology in this matter."

As of now, Rajat Sharma has not issued any statement regarding the allegations.