Assam boy Arnab Goswami, who is the chief of Republic TV, is now the prime target of incumbent Shiv Sena in Maharastra.
Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant met Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and demanded “strict action” against Arnab Goswami for making allegations against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Arnab, a firebrand journalist, has always been vocal against the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharastra.
The controversy over Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput’s death triggered a series of verbal war between the Republic TV chief and the Shiv Sena.
Sawant handed over a petition to Deshmukh in which he alleged that the news being aired by Goswami’s channel is creating a divide in the society, calling chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s name in a derogatory manner.
The Shiv Sena leader said the Republic TV journalist is accusing a Chief Minister without proof, and comes under violation of Section 25 and 35 of the Press Council Act.
Sawant has also accused the Republic TV’s Hindi channel, Republic Bharat in the letter to Maharastra Home Minister.
He demanded that the Maharashtra government should take strict action against the channel and especially Arnab Goswami promptly.
A Shiv Sena leader on Friday had demanded that Arnab Goswami should apologise with folded hands on TV or face criminal proceedings.
The Shiv Sena is a partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Mahaharastra, and had acted against Goswami after the Congress had filed criminal proceedings against him for Sonia Gandhi to the Palghar mob-lynching case.
Slapping a legal notice on Arnab Goswami, Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) president Kishore Tiwari had said that the manner in which the debates are conducted on the channel were an attempt at “contempt of the Supreme Court”.