NEW DELHI/LUDHIANA: Newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today made it clear that he has no intention of any governmental regulation of media and maintained that "self regulation is the best regulation".
"No single individual can change the language of national discourse. I am under no illusion that I alone will be able to change the nature of national discourse.
"All stakeholders will have to take steps to move up to that trajectory," Tewari, who is an MP from Ludhiana, said when asked about the criticism of "bad press" being faced by the UPA-II and his plan of action to change it.
Vehemently denying any plan to curb media, Tewari, who is also the spokesperson of Congress, said, "I believe self regulation is the best regulation." To a question as to how smooth he foresees his stint at I and B Minister, he said, "That will depend on how much cooperation I get from the media as I have got as a spokesperson of Congress."
He also added in a lighter vein that he will try not to be mercurial. Replying to questions about Rahul Gandhi's larger role in the UPA, Tewari said Rahul has already taken the larger role by going beyond his earlier charge of NSUI and Youth Congress and was interacting with a wide range of people in the party.
Asked about the elevation of Salman Khurshid, who has now become Minister of External Affairs, amid the controversy surrounding an NGO run by him and his family, Tewari said the minister has already approached the court on the issue and the court will decide it.
After his appointment as the Union Minister, Tewari came to the Congress headquarters and met senior leaders including AICC general secretary and media department in-charge Janardan Dwivedi.
