The Mumbai Press Club today criticised a tweet by BJP MLA Parag Shah as “extremely derogatory” and demanded that Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ensure his party members “behave responsibly”.

The press club accused Shah of referring to media personnel as “chai-biscuit journalists” and “HMV” – or “His Master’s Voice” – in a tweet on Tuesday.

Shah had posted a video of Fadnavis talking about “an attempt to create a fake narrative” that industries are leaving Maharashtra, “even though our government has come to Maharashtra for only three months”. 

Shah quoted Fadnavis as blaming this “fake narrative” on “some political parties and their ecosystem” and certain “HMV journalists” – all of whom “brought Maharashtra into disrepute”.

Shah later clarified that he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone's sentiments, and neither did Fadnavis. “We do not doubt the integrity of others and all journalists.”

Fadnavis’ comments came a month after oil conglomerate Vedanta Limited, in a joint venture with Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government to set up a new semiconductor plant. This was after the two companies’ talks with the Maharashtra government were “almost final” in July.