Overview
- Video posted on social media showed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath walking away as a woman journalist tried to ask a question at a BJP press event on Saturday.
- Opposition leaders used the clip to argue that BJP briefings have become one-way ‘monologues’ and to demand answers about journalists’ access to power.
- The BJP called the episode staged and accused opponents of deliberately manufacturing controversy rather than addressing policy issues.
- The journalist identified as Srivastava says her employer removed her after the incident and that she has faced online threats, a claim reported by multiple outlets but not independently verified.
- The episode has widened scrutiny of press freedom in India, with critics citing the country’s low Press Freedom Index ranking and calling for institutional accountability and an independent inquiry.