Image showing a sitting of the Karnataka Assembly.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Assembly witnessed heated exchanges between the Congress and the BJP on Tuesday, over the cameras recording the proceedings not focusing on members of the saffron party while they were speaking.
This forced Speaker U T Khader to adjourn the House for a short while. When the House reassembled, Khader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil assured the House that they would initiate disciplinary action against officials who failed to fix the ‘technical snag’.
Patil asserted that he would write to the chief secretary, demanding an explanation from the officers concerned and that they would be suspended, if found guilty.
The incident took place just ahead of the lunch break when leader of the Opposition R Ashoka rose to demand that the Speaker must allow him to move an adjournment motion on recruitment scams in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
At his juncture, deputy leader of the Opposition Aravind Bellad pointed out to Khader that Ashoka was not being shown on TV screens while he spoke and the focus was only on the ruling party members.
Bellad sought to know whether there were instructions to turn the cameras only on ruling party members, ministers and the speaker.
“The leader of the Opposition is speaking on an important issue, but he is not on the screen. The matter was raised at the meeting of the business advisory committee of the House on Monday, but things remain the same on Tuesday,” he said.
Cameras started focusing only on Congress leaders after the information department handed over the telecast operations to ‘Congress workers,’ he alleged.
BJP members V Sunil Kumar, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and others accused the government of denying them their rightful share of camera time.
Ashoka said camera space should be given equally irrespective of who is speaking, be it a member of the Opposition or the ruling party.
“Why is the government discriminating even on such a minor issue?” he said.