India becoming 'democracy of sound bytes': Politicians

NEW DELHI: India is increasingly becoming a " democracy of sound bytes" because of "undue" coverage given by the media to disruptions in Parliament and not to serious debates.

This was the general sense expressed by politicians across the board who nudged the media -- both electronic and print -- to cover less the noise in Parliament and give more weightage and coverage to serious issues that are raised in the House.

Politicians Arun Jaitely (BJP) and Mani Shankar Aiyar (Congress) spoke in a similar vein at a function to release a book - 'Straight Thoughts' - penned by Lokmat Media Chairman Vijay Darda when they rejected suggestions that politicians were "intolerant" in the wake of the Ambedkar cartoon controversy.

At a panel discussion moderated by senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Jaitely and Aiyar said politicians are "more accountable" to people and to the media more than anyone in the society and they laugh at cartoons of themselves but oppose only when there is some sensitivity involved.