The Hindu : National : ULFA "threatens" television show contestants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 23, 2006

National

National

ULFA "threatens" television show contestants

Three of them charge that they were threatened to pull out

As per the format of the show, which is in the final stages now, the winner will be decided on the basis of public votes elicited through SMS.

New Delhi : Zee TV's music talent hunt show `Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005' was in for some real-life drama with contestants and the show's brand manager allegedly being threatened by ULFA to favour a contestant from Assam.

"We received complaints from three contestants that they were threatened by ULFA militants to pull out of the show in favour of Debojit, one of the four finalists, who hails from Assam," a spokesperson for ZEE TV told PTI here.

He said the show's brand manager also got a similar call from a person who claimed to be from the ULFA and demanded that Debojit "should win the contest."

Another issue which irked the other contestants was almost 80 per cent of votes in favour of Debojit were from the northeast region. As per the format of the show, which is in the final stages now, the winner will be decided on the basis of public votes elicited through SMS.

The huge response from the northeast made the other contestants cry foul, most of whom threatened to pull out of the contest after dubbing the process as "unfair". The matter was finally resolved after the intervention of Gajendra Singh, director and producer of the show. "All the contestants have apologised for their behaviour and will continue in the show," the spokesperson said.

He added that the show was "back on track" and there would be "no change" in its format.

The show, likely to end next month, promises the winner a flat in Mumbai apart from huge amount of cash. — PTI

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