Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday cried foul over the way the Narendra Modi government has purportedly decided make the Hindustan Samachar news agency the sole news source for Doordarshan and All India Radio.

In a tweet, Vijayan said: "The move by @prasarbharati to make Hindustan Samachar, a news agency with links to Sangh Parivar, the sole news source for @DDNational & @AkashvaniAIR is an attempt to saffronise news and silence dissent. Secular and democratic forces must unite to resist such communal schemes."

Vijayan added that the founder General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and RSS leader Shivram Sankar Apte had started the news agency which worked for the Sangh Parivar.

"Right from the time the Modi government assumed office, they have been trying to keep Prasar Bharati under their wing and it must be seen the way they failed to air the speech of the then Tripura Chief Minister on Independence Day but gave the live transmission of RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat's speech on Vijayadashmi day," he said, terming this "high-handedness".