Mumbai: Screenshots of alleged WhatsApp conversations between Republic TV head honcho Arnab Goswami and the arrested former CEO of TV ratings agency BARC Partho Dasgupta have gone viral on social media.
The chats are a part of a 3,600-page supplementary chargesheet of Mumbai Police in the ongoing probe into the TRP scam.
The conversations are suggestive of Goswami’s proximity to the upper echelons in the Indian government, including the Prime Minister’s Office, while also indicating that top BARC executives may have manipulated ratings in favour of Republic TV and its Hindi sister channel Republic Bharat.
In the chats, Goswami appears to have kept Dasgupta in-the-know about government affairs, including news on cabinet reshufflings, workings of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, military operations and much more.
Besides Dasgupta, the chats document Goswami’s conversation with two other men – BARC’s former chief operating officer Romil Ramgarhia and Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani. While Dasgupta is in judicial custody, Ramgharia and Kanchandani are out on bail.
In one particular conversation, Dasgupta appears to have told Goswami that the new reform proposal tabled by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to measure viewership with the help of a software installed in set-top boxes would politically hurt both Republic and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Mumbai Police supplementary charge sheet on TRP scam suggests ex BARC CEO(recently arrested) told Arnab that TRAI reform proposal to measure TV viewership digitally via a special software installed in set top box would politically hurt both Republic channel and BJP. (Contd)
— M K Venu (@mkvenu1) January 15, 2021
Dasgupta tells Goswami to use his clout with BJP leaders to sabotage the TRAI reform to replace the manual and corrupt system of ‘metre installation households’.
Other alarming revelations from the chats suggest that Goswami had knowledge of the Balakot strikes days before they took place.
Pre and Post Balakot. pic.twitter.com/Sf3Gcl0mId
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) January 15, 2021
Some have claimed that this is a criminal offence under the Official Secrets Act and that Goswami could be tried in court for this.
Other incriminating revelations show Goswami seemingly drawing pleasure out of the Pulwama attack that left 40 Indian soldiers dead in what was one of the deadliest terror attacks on Indian soil.
On the day of the attack, 14 February 2019, Goswami wrote to Dasgupta: “This attack we won like crazy,” alluding to the spike in ratings that Republic TV got because of its sensational coverage of the incident.
This was soon after #Pulwama attack where we lost 40 Soldiers.#ArnabGoswami#ArnabGate 1/3 pic.twitter.com/B3LeknmMkm
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 15, 2021
The chats also reveal that before leaving BARC, Dasgupta asked Goswami if he could help him get an ‘influential position’ in the government using his closeness to the ruling party.
PNN
