The first episode of Surajya Sanhita, Lok Sabha TV’s much-promoted show, was to be broadcast on January 14, Monday, at 9 pm. Curiously, it wasn’t. In its place, LSTV’s on-going show, Bharat ki Awaz, was televised, leaving the audience and Lok Sabha TV employees confused. The lack of information regarding the show’s cancellation only added to the confusion.

Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Surajya Sanhita’s launch was being promoted across various platforms. A countdown to the show was also being flashed on the channel’s screen for most parts of January 14—the day of the launch. However, at 7:11 pm—one hour and forty-nine minutes prior launch—the countdown disappeared. Only to be followed by the broadcast of Bharat ki Awaz at 9 pm.

This came as a shock to the audience. A viewer Diwakar Pandey, wrote on LSTV’s Facebook page expressing his disappointment. He wrote: “ये धारावाहिक 9 बजे प्रसारित नहीं हुआ. दुखद. (This serial wasn’t televised at 9 pm. Sad.)”

It appears that the programme’s broadcast was stopped suddenly because up until Monday evening, LSTV’s Facebook page and Twitter handle were still promoting the show’s launch. The promotions were also shared from the Twitter handle of Sumit Singh, CEO and executive director of Lok Sabha TV. The show’s director, Dwivedi, also came live on the channel’s Facebook page to chat with the audience on the day of the launch.

Along with the Facebook live, Dwivedi also shared promotional videos of the programme where many Union ministers and Members of Parliament were praising the show. In one of the videos, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan can be heard saying, “They all don’t read history that is why we are bringing Surajya Sanhita on Lok Sabha TV so as to show ways politics happened in India.”

In another video, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Surajya Sanhita, scheduled to be broadcasted on January 14 on Lok Sabha TV, will definitely show all the aspects of the story of good governance, development of the country, along with the struggle and dedication of all those people, great personalities of the country as well as whole system which has helped in the growth of the country.”

Apart from this, Parakram Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha TV anchor also did a Facebook live about Surajya Sanhita’s launch. This was shared on the Lok Sabha TV’s Facebook page. However, some of this content is no longer available or has been deleted. 

The sudden cancellation of the show was also confirmed by LSTV employees, who told Newslaundry that they had no information regarding the show’s cancellation until 8 pm—that is until the end of their shift. On conditions of anonymity, employees also told Newslaundry that this isn’t the first instance when Surajya Sanhita has been shelved. Earlier, it was scheduled to be aired on August 15 but was postponed. Newslaundry hasn’t been able to verify this claim independently.

The last-minute decision to stop the broadcast of the programme has raised many questions on LSTV’s operations. Newslaundry reached contact Aashish Joshi, CEO and editor-in-chief of Lok Sabha TV for comments in the matter. Despite several phone calls, messages and emails, no response was received.

When Newslaundry reached out to Kalpana Sharma, joint secretary, Lok Sabha secretariat, she said, “Why did you call me directly? First, you should have made an appointment with my secretary.” Sharma also declined to comments on the matter. Newslaundry also sent out questions to Sharma and is awaiting her response. Email sent to Sumit Singh, executive director, Lok Sabha TV also went unanswered. The story will be updated as and when they respond.

Newslaundry also reached to Dwivedi for comments. He said, “My job was to produce and direct the program, which I did. My role ends there. Broadcasting decisions are not in my hands.” On being asked whether he or the Surajya Sanhita team was given any prior information on the broadcast being stopped, Dwivedi said, “I don’t know about the rest of the team but I was not given any prior information.”

While the reason why Surajya Sanhita broadcast was held back remains unclear, it is evident that the decision was last minute. Surajya Sanhita was meant to showcase the journey of good governance from the Vedic period to the Harshvardhan period.