In a letter to the prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Bardhan said ``governmentalisation'' of Doordarshan under Mahajan had robbed the network of even the measure of autonomy that it possessed. ``Even a measure of autonomy that it had before has now been replaced by complete governmentalisation,'' Bardhan said.

He said there had always been a demand from all Opposition parties which was also shared by the BJP that Doordarshan and All India Radio should be liberated from total government control. They should have autonomy, and that is how the Prasar Bharati Act was conceived.

While the Congress failed to implement this during its time, the United Front government had the Prasar Bharati Act into actual operation. But the first thing done by the BJP-ledgovernment was to dismantle Prasar Bharati and bring Doordarshan back under departmental control, Bardhan said.

While completely blacking out all news about the CPI and other Left parties, Doordarshan gave extensive coverage to every function of the BJP, its allies and its siblings of the Sangh Parivar. Since the Congress happens to be the official Opposition party, some Congress statements and events are covered, he observed.

Alleging that such partisan coverage could not be possible without orders from above, Bardhan said ``we know for a fact that telephone and oral orders are frequently given to the officials, about what to highlight and what to black-out. We protest against all this''.