Prez Kovind institutes media ban

President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu are going the Narendra Modi way.

At least in terms of accessibility to the media.

While Presidents, vice-president's and prime minister's past, have embraced the media which has accompanied them on foreign and domestic tours, a policy since Independence, PM Modi has rewritten the rules.

As with the PM, President Kovind and VP Naidu will now on allow only official communiques and videos from Doordarshan.

The media will not be permitted to accompany the President on domestic or foreign tours.

Quite naturally, the media is upset with the decision. In fact, even briefings with Opposition leaders will not be held inside Rashtrapati Bhavan. The venue now is Vijay chowk.  

So, today when Congress, DMK and CPM MPs met President Kovind to complain against Tamil Nadu Governor, the TV crews were told to move from the President's estate to Vijay Chowk.

Unlike past presidents -- Pranab Mukherjee (who opened house and hearth to the media), Dr SD Sharma, APJ Abdul Kalam, R Venkataraman, Prathibha Patil, KR Narayanan -- President Kovind has decided to steer clear of the media.

Image: A delegation of MPs from the DMK, Congress, CPI and CPI (M) led by DMK MP Kanimozhi, called on President Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.