New Delhi, May 3 -- Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over press freedom, alleging a steady decline in democratic norms and claiming that journalists are facing intimidation, arrests, and violence under the present regime.

In a post on X marking World Press Freedom Day, Kharge said, "On World Press Freedom Day, the nation must confront a stark and undeniable reality. Since 2014, India's position in the World Press Freedom Index has steadily declined, falling to 157th place under the BJP regime."

He asserted that a free press should function independently of government influence. "A free press, in its truest sense, does not exist to amplify the government's narrative or conceal its fail...