Sudarshan News

About Sudarshan News

Sudarshan News is a Hindi-language news channel in India, founded in 2005 by Suresh Chavhanke, who serves as its chairman, managing director and editor-in-chief. Launched in Pune, Maharashtra and later shifted to Noida, Uttar Pradesh, the channel is owned by Chavhanke and his family. It is widely described as a right-wing news channel, and Chavhanke himself asserts that he practises ideology-driven journalism and prefers that the channel's news programmes be viewed as opinionated campaigns. The channel's flagship programme is Bindas Bol, hosted by Chavhanke, and it has been the subject of repeated public controversy over its editorial content as well as legal proceedings involving its owner.

Founding and ownership

Sudarshan News was launched in 2005 by Suresh Chavhanke, who was born on 18 February 1972 in Shirdi, Maharashtra. Before founding the channel, Chavhanke worked as a reporter for Tarun Bharat, a pro-RSS Marathi daily, and later became the editor-in-chief of the Marathi web news portal batmi.com. He is a long-term member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, having attended its shakhas since childhood, held several posts in the organisation before becoming a full-time reporter, and was associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS. Chavhanke launched the channel in Pune and subsequently shifted its base to Noida, outside Delhi, to operate it as a national news channel. The channel is owned by Chavhanke and his family, and he remains its chairman, managing director and editor-in-chief.

Editorial identity and flagship programmes

The channel's stated editorial posture is openly ideological. Chavhanke has said that he practises ideology-driven journalism and that the channel's programmes should be viewed as opinionated campaigns rather than neutral news bulletins. The channel's best-known show is Bindas Bol, hosted by Chavhanke himself, which has been the vehicle for many of its most controversial broadcasts. Other programmes associated with the channel and its owner include Chalte Chalte and Jan Sansad. The channel's coverage focuses on national issues, cultural and religious themes, and stories framed from a Hindu nationalist perspective, and it is frequently grouped by media analysts with pro-government outlets in India.

Early growth

From its base in Pune, the channel expanded into a national service after the move to Noida, building a studio and newsroom in the Delhi National Capital Region. It gained visibility through its prime-time debate and campaign-style programming and through Chavhanke's own profile as an anchor. The channel is carried on cable and direct-to-home platforms across India and maintains a website at sudarshannews.in, along with active social media accounts through which it distributes clips of its broadcasts.

Programme formats

Beyond its flagship Bindas Bol, the channel's schedule follows the standard pattern of Hindi news television, with morning and evening news bulletins, prime-time debate shows and special campaign programming built around specific issues. Chalte Chalte is a talk and interview format, while Jan Sansad presents itself as a people's parliament discussion. The channel frequently runs themed campaigns, short series of episodes devoted to a single issue, which are promoted heavily on its social media handles before broadcast. This campaign format, in which a story is pursued over several days with studio debates, ground reports and anchor-led commentary, has been the channel's most recognisable style and the source of both its audience loyalty and its controversies.

The 2017 arrest

In April 2017, Chavhanke was detained at Lucknow airport and arrested for allegedly promoting religious enmity through his programme Bindas Bol. The case concerned episodes about Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh being portrayed as a centre of terrorism with alleged links to Al Qaeda. According to reporting in The Indian Express, the FIR filed on 10 April alleged that the show had provoked religious fanaticism and disturbed social harmony, and the local police superintendent stated that the situation in the area had become tense following the broadcasts. Chavhanke was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 16 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act was also invoked. After being released on bail, Chavhanke claimed that the arrest was an attempt to suppress and intimidate the media, and said he was proud of the charges.

The UPSC Jihad episode

In September 2020, Bindas Bol aired a series that Chavhanke termed UPSC Jihad, which claimed that Muslims were systematically infiltrating India's civil services and suggested that Muslim candidates received undue advantages in the Union Public Service Commission examinations. The claims were based on misleading data and unverified assertions, including allegations of preferential treatment for Muslim aspirants. The broadcast drew widespread criticism and legal scrutiny, and the episode became one of the most widely discussed controversies in the channel's history, cited in subsequent analyses of the channel's editorial approach.

Other legal proceedings

Chavhanke has faced multiple legal cases. In November 2016, an FIR was lodged with the Noida Police by a former employee of the channel who accused him of rape and related offences; Chavhanke was booked under 11 sections of the Indian Penal Code, but the police filed a closure report in January 2017 stating that the charges were not substantiated. Separately, the channel was ordered to pay 50 lakh rupees for airing fake news. In 2018, Chavhanke started a Bharat Bachao rally intended to carry a message on population control, which was interrupted by the Hyderabad Police citing law and order concerns. Various organisations have accused him of inciting communal hatred through inflammatory speeches, while his supporters have maintained that the cases against him were motivated by his advocacy of Hindu causes.

Attacks on channel journalists

Journalists working for the channel have been victims of violent attacks. In August 2021, Manish Kumar Singh, a 26-year-old reporter for the channel, was kidnapped and murdered in Bihar's East Champaran district. Police arrested three suspects, two of whom were journalists, and police sources attributed the killing to a personal dispute, though the victim's father alleged that it was linked to Singh's journalism. In May 2024, Ashutosh Srivastava, another journalist of the channel, was shot dead in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh; his family linked the killing to his coverage of the alleged slaughter of cows in the area.

Public profile and criticism

Sudarshan News has been widely criticised for communal broadcasting and has been described in media analysis as part of the pro-government news ecosystem in India. Media watchdogs and civil society organisations have documented what they describe as hate speech and misinformation in its broadcasts, while the channel and its owner reject such characterisations and present their journalism as nationalist and ideology-driven by design. The channel's history illustrates the polarised nature of the Indian television news market, in which explicitly opinionated channels have built dedicated audiences alongside mainstream news networks.

Current status

Sudarshan News continues to operate as a Hindi news channel from Noida, with Suresh Chavhanke as its chairman, managing director and editor-in-chief and the host of its flagship show Bindas Bol. The channel broadcasts on cable and DTH platforms and maintains a digital presence through its website and social media channels, continuing the opinionated, campaign-style journalism that has defined it since its founding in 2005. Its YouTube channel and social media accounts carry full episodes and clips of Bindas Bol and its other programmes, extending the channel's reach to viewers who watch primarily on mobile devices.