Rajdeep Sardesai’s temper has been on public view before: in New York, he’d attacked a Modi supporter, before realizing he was outnumbered. Now Sardesai’s bullying has once again come to the fore, albeit accidentally.
An 11-second clip was streamed on Rajdeep Sardesai’s Instagram yesterday. In the clip, Rajdeep appears to be preparing to go live on his Instagram. But he seems to be having technical difficulties. “Between you and Surinder, you start organizing this,” Rajdeep is seen telling someone off camera. “Otherwise I’m going to sack you all and put someone else in charge of social media,” he threatens.
Sardesai obviously didn’t realize he was already live, and the clip was saved by one of the 29 viewers on his channel. A while before the clip was recorded, Sardesai had posted on his Twitter that he’d be going live on Instagram to answer people’s questions around the Hyderabad civic poll results and Maharashtra MLC elections.
But while viewers have known Sardesai’s public persona for years, the 11-second clip provides a rare glimpse into what Sardesai is like behind the camera. On TV, he’s often been accused of throwing softball questions at people who agree with his political views, including the Pakistani MP who’d claimed that the Pulwama attack was carried out by Pakistan. But while he has been reserving his sweetness for those who oppose the Indian state and PM Modi, the accidentally-released clip shows that he appears to be just as vitriolic towards the low-ranking employees who labour behind the scenes to enable his journalism.