NEW DELHI: In a sudden development, Punya Prasun Bajpai, along with two top members of the editorial team, has exited the Sahara group's flagship Hindi news channel Samay.

Bajpai, Sanjay Bragta and Narendra Pratap Singh, the numbers one, two and three at the channel, resigned and left the office this afternoon. It is also learnt that a total of eight people have left, though their names were not available at the time of filing this report.

Both Bajpai and the channel admitted to the developments, though details of the reasons behind it were sketchy.

However, it is learnt that there was a lengthy meeting between the top officials of the company and the channel heads, apparently to see if a compromise could be worked out. The meeting ended in the resignation of the three top men.

When contacted, Sumit Roy, who heads the news business for Sahara, had this to offer. “They were asked to resign because of non-performance and serious dispute with the management. We were not getting the TRPs and channel share, and this was unworkable."

Defended Bajpai: "We were given the responsibility of improving the channel and bringing in credibility. We had taken several radical steps to professionalise the channel. It is there for all to see. So if they now say it was non-performance, that is their version of things, I have nothing to say."

It was during Bajpai's stint that Sahara Samay dropped the name 'Sahara' and donned a new look.