Rajat Sharma: From ABVP To India TV’s Editor-In-Chief
Perhaps one of the most recognised faces of Indian national news, Rajat Sharma has a wide range of audiences. From the middle class to the elite of society, everyone has heard and seen Sharma asking questions with his guests sitting in his adaalat.
The editor-in-chief and chairman of India TV came from a family of nine living in a small Delhi locality. Sharma became active in politics during his student life under the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP, along with former finance minister Arun Jaitley in the 1970s. Sharma eventually became the general secretary of the ABVP. With his induction into the field of journalism, he rose through the ranks and is now known to be one of India’s most powerful editors, with access to top politicians and celebrities.
When many leading journalists struggled to get access to PM Modi, Sharma first interviewed Modi when he was a BJP general secretary. On the occasion of the 21st anniversary of his show, Aap ki Adalat, in December 2014, PM Modi himself gave the opening address, which was then followed by President Pranab Mukherjee. Sharma’s India TV was also the first media channel to get an exclusive interview with Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP.
According to the Economic Times, when Amit Shah was appointed as the general secretary of the party, Modi had asked Sharma to “advise Shah on UP’s political intricacies.” Shah had reportedly, driven to India TV offices in Noida to meet Sharma.
Recently as well, PM Modi sat down in an interview with Sharma, where the Varanasi candidate claimed that God had ordained him to work 24×7 till 2047 to “achieve the aim of a Viksit Bharat.” Sharma has long been accused of being biased against the ruling party.
However, despite the high connections Sharma enjoys, he insists that he has friends across political parties and has never let that affect his work. But senior Congress leaders claim that Sharma and his close aid and India TV director Hemant Sharma played a “significant role” in the saffron party’s Lok Sabha campaign, including Modi’s decision to pick the Varanasi constituency, as per the Economic Times.
Notably, India TV’s investors include Aditya Corpex Private Ltd., a group company of Gautam Adani’s Adani Group, and Shyam Equities, a subsidiary of Tally Solutions whose directors include Anand Jain and Manoj Modi, both friends of Mukesh Ambani.
