Controversial anchor Arnab Goswami scandal has erupted in India and it has been renamed as Chat Gate.
Other opposition parties, including the Congress, have demanded an inquiry into the Arnab Goswami issue from a joint parliamentary committee.
Indian TV host and editor-in-chief of the Republic Media Network, Arnab Goswami, has leaked a WhatsApp chat with his fellow journalist and Partho Das, former CEO of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which revealed that He already knew many secrets of India and was talking about increasing the ranking of his channel with the Pulwama attack.
The chat also revealed the sensational revelation that Arnab Goswami was already aware of the Indian attack on Balakot and the steps taken to end the special status of Occupied Kashmir.
The revelations have sent shockwaves through India, with people questioning how a TV anchor gained access to the country's secrets and sensitive issues, which he used to boost his rankings.
Leaders of the opposition Indian National Congress have demanded a joint parliamentary inquiry into the matter from the BJP government. Congress leader Manish Tiwari said that if the Arnab Goswami scandal was true, it meant that there was a direct link between the 2019 general elections and the Balakot airstrikes, could national security be at stake just to win the elections.
Similarly, former Home Minister P. Chidambaram also said that if a journalist and his friend had known about the Balakot attack three days ago, what guarantee is there that their sources would not have told the news to Pakistani spies.
Similarly, Shashi Tharoor said that the matter should be investigated as to how the country's defense secrets were provided to a TV channel for commercial purposes, which said that the death of 40 Indian soldiers in Pulwama was the best way to cash in.
Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party and other parties have also demanded an inquiry into the matter. Nationalist Congress Party spokesman Mahesh Tapsi said it was "regrettable and shocking" that national security issues had been used for TRP and ratings.
Pakistan's foreign office has said in its response that the revelations confirm that the BJP, in order to win the elections, threw dust in the eyes of its people and the world and pretended to be terrorists. What The Foreign Office also said that India was launching a hate speech campaign against Pakistan.
It may be recalled that on February 14, 2019, 40 personnel were killed in a suicide bombing on Indian forces in Pulwama area of occupied Kashmir. Then on February 26, the Indian Air Force launched a missile attack on Balakot in Pakistan and claimed to have targeted the Jaish-e-Muhammad camp.
The next day, the Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian fighter jets. All this happened at a time when general elections were about to be held in India and Modi used these events in his election campaign to win re-election.
