New Delhi: A founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday night threatened to walk out of Arnab Goswami’s show after one of his known right-wing panelists referred to her as a ‘clown.’ Incensed by the ‘bunch of clowns’ jibe for the founders of the AAP, Anjali Damania threatened to quit the debate prompting the Republic TV founder to intervene.
It was Goswami, who started by saying, “I started by talking about the Alumni Association of the Aam Aadmi Party.” When someone objected to his remarks, Goswami said, “Of course, it’s meant to provoke you.” One of his right-wing panelists, one Anand Ranganathan, said, “They are like the Alcoholic Anonymous, AA.”
Anjali Damania protests
Ranganathan’s jibe did not go down well with Anjali Damania, who was one of the founding members of the AAP before she quit the party. Damania lodged a strong protest on being referred to as Alcoholics Anonymous and called his comments cheap.
Goswami first tried to ignore the severity of the protest from Damania and other panelists by simply saying, “It’s not a funny situation. It’s something to be concerned about.”
Damania intervened as she said angrily, “It’s really not funny Arnab. I don’t think I liked this.” She found support from one other panelist, who said, “Anand you should be ashamed of yourself to use this word. This shows your illiteracy Anand.”
“Alright, I am illiterate. Now are you prepared to listen to me?” asked Ranganathan. The panelist supporting Damania replied, “I don’t want to listen to you. I don’t want to listen to you. The word that you used is highly objectionable. Ranganathan asked the panelists to have a ‘sense of humour.’ But Damania and others continued to protest.
Goswami underestimates
Goswami underestimated the extent of their anger as he tried to move on with his debate. At some point, Damania threatened to walk out of the show on being labelled as a part of ‘alcoholics anonymous.’ “Arnab my strong objection is to be referred to as Alumni Association. I don’t think any jokes of those sorts are required. That’s not humour.”
Ranganathan then commented calling Damania and others who founded the Aam Aadmi Party as a bunch of clowns. This was the point when Damania said that she refused to take part in the debate if Ranaganathan continued to use such language for the founders of the AAP.
“I think I’ve had enough. I’m opting out of the debate,” Damania said prompting Goswami to politely admonish his regular right-wing guest.