New Delhi, Jan 25: Just a day before the launch of former Time Now editor Arnab Goswami’s new venture Republic, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy has raised an objection against it. The BJP leader has come out against the use of the word ‘Republic’.
Swamy, in a letter to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, has said that the use of the word ‘Republic’ is contrary to what has been stated under the Emblems and Names Act, 1950. He says that the word is prohibited from use under the act and, hence, must not be given to a news channel.
Swamy has asked the I&B Ministry to look into the matter and determine whether it was right to issue a licence for the name ‘Republic’ for Goswami’s venture.
For info of PTs pic.twitter.com/L2YxhPOeRg
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) January 25, 2017
There have been a lot of speculations about Goswami’s new media venture ‘Republic’, which he announced days after his resignation from Times Now. Some reports suggest that an NDA MP in Rajya Sabha and Mohandas Pai, a former executive of Infosys, are the lead investors in this new venture.
According to an Indian Express report, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a member of the Rajya Sabha and vice-chairman of the NDA in Kerala, is one of the biggest investors and a director in Goswami’s upcoming venture. In late November, the venture applied for uplinking and downlinking of a news channel. Republic will reportedly be a part of a company called ARG Outlier Media Limited where Goswami has been appointed as the Managing Director. Chandrashekhar has invested Rs 30 crore in ARG Outlier, Indian Express reported.
It has also emerged that Mohandas Pai, a former executive of Infosys, has also invested Rs 7.5 crore into the new media venture.
Earlier, there were reports that Chandrashekhar identified himself as an Independent MP but his association with the BJP-led NDA is no more a secret. During the Kerala Assembly Elections in May last year, Chandrashekhar actively campaigned for the BJP.
Goswami had launched the official social media pages of Republic on January 9 and was trolled on Twitter. Though some of his followers welcomed the social media campaign, some even trolled him.
Reports say that Goswami is set to launch Republic on January 26, Republic Day.
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