Himachal CM's aide clarifies on govt advertisements to National Herald

IANS April 19, 2025 136 views

Himachal Pradesh's Principal Media Advisor Naresh Chauhan has strongly refuted BJP legislator Jai Ram Thakur's allegations regarding government advertisements to National Herald. Chauhan not only defended the current government's actions but also highlighted the extensive media advertisement spending during Thakur's previous BJP regime. He emphasized that National Herald continues to be published regularly in English and Hindi, contrary to BJP's claims. The media advisor suggested that these allegations are part of a broader strategy to malign the current government and divert attention from the BJP's own practices.

"The BJP leaders were trying to mislead the people without ascertaining facts" - Naresh Chauhan
Shimla, April 19: Principal Media Advisor to the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Naresh Chauhan, on Saturday clarified over allegations of BJP legislator and Leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, pertaining to the release of Rs 2.34 crore in the shape of government advertisements to the National Herald newspaper.

Key Points

1

Govt released Rs 2.34 crore in ads to National Herald

2

BJP gave crores to party-affiliated publications

3

CM's media advisor calls allegations baseless

4

Details expose previous government's media spending

Terming the allegations as baseless and far from the truth, he said the BJP leaders were trying to mislead the people without ascertaining facts and were bent upon to malign the image of the Chief Minister on the issue, which would not be tolerated. He said that in two and a half years, the advertisements of Rs 2.34 crore have been given to the National Herald newspaper, whereas the BJP, during its regime under the leadership of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, released the advertisements worth crores of rupees to their mouthpiece journals and magazines.

Citing examples, he said ‘Organiser’ and ‘Panchjanaya’ and ‘Matrivandana’ magazines and journals, considered to be the mouthpiece of the BJP, were given advertisements of more than Rs 2 crore.

Besides, ‘Deep Kamal Sandesh’, ‘Chhatra Udghosh’ magazine of the ABVP, the magazine brought out by RSS ‘Tarun Bharat’, published from Nagpur, to which advertisements of more than Rs 74 lakh were given by the BJP during its regime, the name of which the people have never heard. Over and above, the Thakur Government issued advertisements of more than Rs 2.93 crore to papers, magazines and journals associated with the BJP.

“I am astonished by the statement of the BJP leaders that the National Herald paper weekly is no longer published,” Chauhan told the media here.

The National Herald weekly is regularly published from Delhi in English and 'Sunday Navjeevan' in Hindi. Besides, the Mumbai publication is also being taken out regularly.

He said the BJP, which was running a coalition government at the Centre, is harassing those associated with the Congress and other Opposition political parties by misusing central investigation agencies due to fear of its continuously decreasing popularity.

Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
Interesting how both sides are pointing fingers at each other's media spending. Maybe we need more transparency in how government ads are allocated? 🤔
P
Priya M.
The numbers speak for themselves! If BJP spent crores on their own magazines, they shouldn't be complaining now. Pot calling the kettle black situation.
A
Ankit S.
Respectful criticism: While the comparison is valid, I wish the CM's office would focus more on governance than getting into these media wars. Public money is public money, regardless of who spends it.
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Sunita R.
Never heard of most of these BJP magazines mentioned here! 😅 Shows how much reach they actually have compared to National Herald.
V
Vikram J.
The real issue is whether these ads serve public interest or just party interests. Both sides need to answer that.
N
Neha P.
All this energy spent on defending ad spends could be better used for actual development work. Just saying! 🙄

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Tags:
Himachal Pradesh National Herald Naresh Chauhan Jai Ram Thakur Media Advertisements Political Controversy
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