He was the cabinet minister in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting during the first term of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This posting led to several controversial decisions, including several bans of Western television networks, including a three-month ban on the Sony-owned television network AXN and Fashion TV following the broadcast of programs deemed "obscene" by Dasmunsi. Dasmunsi was also responsible for the popular, if controversial, decision to require Indian sports broadcaster Nimbus Communications to share broadcast rights for Indian cricket matches with the state television network, Doordarshan — this despite Nimbus paying hundreds of millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast Indian cricket matches over four years.