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"Congress won't muffle voice of the press"

Special Correspondent

Information to be sought from YSR: Digvijay

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday emphasised that there was no question of the party persecuting any newspaper or newspaper group and that it would do nothing to "muffle the voice of the press."

All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh said here that he would seek information from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy with regard to the "move" against the Eenadu group in the Margadarsi case.

Right to opinion

"There is no question of the Congress persecuting any newspaper or group of newspapers as such ... we have no objection ... everyone has the right to have an opinion and we will never harass or muffle the voice of the press," he said in the wake of reports that the State Government has appointed a two-member committee to look into the affairs of Margadarsi.

Mr. Singh said the issue cropped up after Rajahmundry MP Vundavalli Aruna Kumar brought it to the notice of the Reserve Bank that the company was collecting funds against rules.

He said that following this an inquiry was set up.

"The State Government has nothing to do with it," he asserted.

Terms of reference

As regards the decision of the Rajasekhara Reddy Government to set up a committee, Mr. Singh, AICC functionary in charge of the party's affairs in the State, said he had not verified from the State Government what the terms of reference were and what this committee had been asked to examine.

Mr. Singh said there was no question of harassing a newspaper group of repute. This, he said, was despite the fact that Eenadu was "almost the mouthpiece of the Telugu Desam Party. We have no objection and everyone has the right to have an opinion. We will not muffle the voice of the press."

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