M.K. Razdan digs in his heels at PTI

Technically, M.K. Razdan, Press Trust of India’s long-serving editor-in-chief and chief executive officer, retired on March 31, but practically remains the boss. While his accounts have been settled, he still comes to the PTI office on Parliament Street and takes meetings.

It may be mentioned that Razdan, who is not a favorite of the BJP government, was desperately trying to get an extension at the country’s premier news agency. He reportedly got several stories planted in the media about the government’s plan to saffronize PTI. A news portal even mentioned the names of three senior journalists who, it maintained, were close to the government and were contenders for the top post. The portal also mentioned that Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley was playing a key role in the matter. Apparently, the government plan failed, for the three journalists were not chosen.

The country’s largest news agency was left headless; it went on the auto-pilot mode. A small victory for Razdan indeed, for he continues to have his say in the affairs of PTI, even though he doesn’t enjoy the powers that he used to a few days ago.