15 June 2000

FROM JAL KHAMBATA

NEW DELHI: Gujarat Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya, who resigned abruptly on Wednesday, has become the victim of a fierce mafia war being waged by two Media moghuls of the state in an attempt to monopolise the fast-emerging cable TV market valued at over Rs 5,000 crores.

Engaged in the mafia-type operations are the owners of Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh, two competing multi-edition Gujarati dailies with large circulation, who want to capture one or the other  Gujarati TV channel, threatening to slice away a major chunk of their newspapers' advertisement business.

The mafia war over who gets the upper hand in the cable TV business is taking place not only in Gujarat but also in places like Jaipur, Mumbai and several other states, but its ugly face has shown up in Gujarat only because the ministers got involved in taking sides.

The Gujarat Samachar owners are promoting the Alfa-9Gujarati channel and they have been using their newspaper network as also the criminals to threaten any cable TV operator who dare show any other Gujarati channel, not even the Government's own DD-11 Gujarati channel.

Their writ runs so effectively in Ahmedabad and several other cities and towns of Gujarat that the cable operators are forced to black out all other Gujarati channels except Alfa-9.

Gurjari, a Gujarati TV channel established by a London-based NRI in Mumbai, and TARA, the offshoot of the STAR TV, are the two other channels, besides DD-11, but it is impossible to tune in their programmes except for the Alfa-9.

Owners of Sandesh woke up late to plunge themselves into this murky cable TV war by deciding to go all out, promoting and sponsoring and even financing TARA, the latest Gujarati channel launched by Ratikant Basu, a former IAS officer of Gujarat. And, thus began the war between the two Media titans.

TARA has not been able to make a mark so far since the Gujarat Samachar owners are arm-twisting the cable-operators not to beam it at all. Owners of Gujarat Samachar have also bought over the Skynet cable company which has laid its cable network in Ahmedabad and most other cities.

The trouble, however, started brewing when Bharat Solanki, brother of a criminal-turned Gujarat Deputy Minister Purshottam Solanki, entered the cable TV market of Gujarat as agents of the Hindujas' Incablenet. He established his shop first in Bhavnagar and then moved to Ahmedabad.

The Sandesh owners wanted to use this Bharat Solanki to promote TARA TV and Solanki found nothing wrong as he decided to himself organise meetings of the local cable operators and persuade them to better show all TV channels instead of blocking out this or that channel.

Solanki convened a meeting of the cable operators for the purpose, only to find himself being laid to the Police custody on the charge of assaulting and pulling a gun on Samir Shah, a cable operator, and manhandling Ashish Desai, a highly-connected cable operator of Ahmedabad, in a drunken state. Gujarat has total prohibition and hence Solanki found himself locked up for non-bailable offence, including attempt of murder.

The Sandesh daily owners also wield quite an influence but Haren Pandya found himself in a soup as he cannot afford to live in Ahmedabad by antagonising the Gujarat Samachar owners, knowing well their mafia connections, nor can he afford to pick up a fight with the Police which had arrested Solanki under the influence of the Gujarat Samachar owners since he has to live in the same area of Alice Bridge in Ahmedabad wherefrom he has been elected to the Gujarat Assembly.

The best option for Haren Pandya, therefore, was to submit resignation and urge the chief minister to relieve him of the Home portfolio. Sources close to him say, he would better not like to hold the Home portfolio, though he was open to the chief minister's suggestion that he can at least continue in the ministry and handle the portfolio of the Information Minister. Under pressure from ruling BJP President Kushabhau Thakre, Pandya, however, ultimately withdrew his resignation after the 24-hour drama. END.