Rupert Murdoch is the big, bad media mogul who meets secretly with presidential candidates and might want to buy the New York Times. He's also the billionaire behind STAR India, the media giant there that's closing a deal to acquire a majority stake in Asianet Entertainment. But is it just business as usual, or Murdoch's Machiavellian attempt to execute a secret agenda?

The latter, says the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Murdoch is said to be snapping up shares of Asianet owned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who acquired a majority stake in the 15-year-old TV channel two years ago. The party's state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told constituents: "Please don't see this takeover as one media organization's entry into our state. They have a clear-cut agenda. This fear has been raised by at least some who are now working in Asianet. … This should not be seen as a routine takeover. They want to change our society but the Left is not going to be swept away either."

It's like when Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal from the Bancroft family, made empty promises to maintain its integrity, and by simply switching a couple of job descriptions, managed to get away with whatever the hell he wanted. So here's to once again replicating that business maneuver — to India, and beyond!