Congress MPs approach Speaker, allege Sansad TV discriminated against Opposition leaders

Congress MPs on Thursday approached Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla alleging that Sansad TV was discriminating against them by not showing Opposition speakers when they are speaking. They told the Speaker that during the coverage of no-trust motion, cameras focussed on the Speaker when the opposition MPs were speaking in the House.  

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told DH that Birla promised to look into the matter. “We have complained to the Speaker of the misbehavior of Sansad TV. The channel is run on taxpayers’ money and should be available for all. The Speaker has said he will speak to Sansad TV,” Tharoor said. 

Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s TR Baalu, and VCK's Thol Thirumavalavan submitted a complaint to the Speaker. Following the complaint, the government TV channel showed Opposition members when they were speaking. 

On Wednesday, during his first speech in the House after he was reinstated as an MP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was shown for only 14 minutes in his 37 minute speech.

Congress’s chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said that Gandhi spoke from 12:09pm to 12:46pm of which the Sansad TV camera showed him for 14 mins 37 seconds.

“This gets even worse! @RahulGandhi spoke on Manipur for 15 min 42 seconds. During which, Sansad TV’s camera focused on the Speaker Om Birla for 11 min 08 seconds i.e. 71% of the time. Sansad TV showed @RahulGandhi on video for only 4 min 34 seconds while he spoke on Manipur,” Ramesh tweeted. 

On Tuesday, the day the no-confidence motion started, BSP MP Danish Ali pointed that the Sansad TV ticker was showing achievements of the government’s various departments even as the speeches were unfolding. After a sustained uproar, during which the ticker was stopped to resume again thrice, Birla had it stopped.