News24 debate Sabse Bada Sawaal yesterday made for some interesting TV news viewing with anchor Sakshi Joshi taking on Vishwa Hindu Parishad National Spokesperson Vinod Bansal.

The debate was centred on both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress presenting themselves as ‘cow saviours’ in the run-up to the Madhya Pradesh state elections.

Joshi took on both the parties for their double standards on beef consumption: “Goa aur northeast main gai yummy hai, MP main mummy hai…aur yehi Congress ke liye hai…MP main gai mummy hai Keral main gai yummy hai [the cow is yummy is Goa and Northeast and mummy in MP…the same applies for Congress…the cow is mummy in MP and yummy in Kerala].”

When Joshi questioned VHP’s Vinod Bansal on Union Minister of State for Home Affairs of India Kiren Rijiju’s comments on beef consumption, he accused her of quoting reports shared on WhatsApp.

Bansal stated, “Ye WhatsApp ki khabrein hai (these are WhatsApp stories).” Joshi refuted this and later played the audio where Rijiju can be heard saying: “I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me?” (The video to the presser can be found here.)

Joshi added that: “I don’t quote WhatsApp reports, others must be doing it. Trolls do it.”

At a time when party spokespersons like Sambit Patra can get away with heckling co-panellists, with the anchor watching and sometimes egging on such behaviour, Joshi’s intervention is refreshing. She not only corrected Bansal but also politely urged him to retract his words.

You can watch the complete debate here.