With 21 years of experience in the media industry, Ashok shrivtastav is one of the most famous news personalities in the country. He’s one among the fewest journalists in India who put their career at risk but never compromised with Nationalism and patriotism. His primetime show “Do Took” marks 7 years which was started in April 2016 to counter Anti National narratives stirred by JNU students.
Anti India slogans such as ‘Bharat Tere Tukde Honge Inshallah Inshallah’ shook him internally and thus it led him to start a National debate program on DD News to expose pernicious elements. The show is now the most popular program on the channel. In his program, he questions everyone including the role of the government.
“It is for the first time in the history of India that Doordarshan is openly criticizing the government. It had never happened before in our country. The change came about in 2016 after late Arun Jaitley, the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, gave all the clearance required to materialize such an unprecedented show,” says Shrivastav while talking to The Youth.
Many big political shots including Sambit Patra, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Supriya Shrinate, Shahjad Honewala etc have partaken in the debate with him which is seen as an accomplishment for the channel. The prime time show is now stealing many private channels’ TRP.
Who is Ashok Shrivastav
Ashok Shrivastav was born and raised in a middle-class family. Although their roots were in Banaras, his father had settled in Bombay and worked in the Hindi film industry for several years to obtain a livelihood. He formed close personnel with well-known actor Guru Dutt, and after his death, disheartened, he left for Delhi. He lodged at the Times of India as an admin.
In the course of journalism, Ashok met Arun Showvik, a columnist. Arun informs Ashok that his sister Nalini Singh is seeking a journalist who is also a perfectionist in Hindi grammar and dialect. Ashok joined DD news and started anchoring in a popular program, Aakhon Dekhi for three years. Opportunity knocked on the door when he was selected as executive editor for a new channel, Surya TV. However, the channel could not be launched and Ashok lost all his means of earning. He opened a production house on his own but that too failed to make a statement. Dejected, and desperate to work, Ashok applied for anchoring in Doordarshan.