Rajasthan Assembly espionage exposes intra-party tussle in BJP

Jaipur: While India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar had refused to release video footage of women voters voting at polling booths, citing privacy concerns, allegations of surveillance on Opposition legislators, especially women MLAs, by Rajasthan Assembly speaker Vasudev Devnani, have turned into a full-blown controversy. 

Political experts say that this issue is sensitive not only politically but also a breach of privacy of legislators.

This alleged surveillance also indicates that intra-party tussles continue to simmer in the BJP and also points towards a trust deficit between the ruling party and the Opposition, which is unhealthy in a democracy.

Since the matter came to light, both sides have been trading charges at each other, with the Opposition Congress questioning the need for installation of extra cameras behind the Opposition benches while the BJP maintains that the installation was mainly for the safety and security of legislators.

The state Congress unit has alleged that Devnani has installed cameras to monitor Opposition voices even after the House is adjourned.

Congress state president, Govind Singh Dotasara has alleged that “the government wants to keep a tab on Opposition leaders and listen in on our conversations. This spying is being done at the behest of the Modi government, the CM and the RSS.” He went to the extent of saying that “Devnani wants to see what attire they (Congress women MLAs) are wearing, in what condition they are sitting, and what they are talking about.” 

On Monday (September 16), Congress women MLAs Shimla Devi Naik and Geeta Barwar held a presser, expressing their outrage over the issue, saying the cameras were specifically aimed at monitoring the Opposition’s activities and conversations, even during adjournments. Naik said, "Placing cameras over the seating area of women legislators in the Assembly is not only against the rules but also a violation of legislative traditions." The two MLAs also stressed that such surveillance was not only legally questionable but also an infringement on their rights as women legislators.

The Congress MLAs came to the House wearing caps with slogans like ‘Jagga Jasoos’ written on them. Incidentally, Jagga Jasoos is a popular Bollywood movie about a teenage detective. 

Leader of Opposition in the House Tikaram Jully had earlier alleged that the “tender for upgrading cameras is still underway—that the technical bid opening date was in August, and there are still a few months for their installation. So, the question arises: what are these two cameras for which the Speaker has already upgraded?

He questioned how two cameras can be upgraded when the entire upgradation work is yet to begin. He also said there was ambiguity over who had access to the additional cameras and believed that only the Speaker had access to these two cameras. 

The espionage angle came into focus when the Assembly staff claimed they did not have any information about the additional cameras and simply refused to allow Opposition leaders to view their footage. They said they needed the permission of the Speaker to allow the legislators to view the recorded footage of those two cameras.

This literally meant that the only people who could view the footage from these two cameras were the Speaker and his PA. Congress leaders have come down heavily on the ruling BJP, saying the secretive use of the cameras is objectionable when the House is not in session. They allege it is an attempt to pry and listen into the private conversations of Opposition MLAs, especially women, during recess. 

Devnani has refuted these allegations, saying the cameras cover a 360-degree view and there is no question of prying and violation of any single person’s privacy. State Parliamentary Minister Jogiram Patel, reacting to the Opposition's allegations regarding cameras, said the cameras installed in the Legislative Assembly have been there since the Assembly was formed. In the Rajasthan Assembly, whether a member is from the ruling party, the Opposition, Independent or any political party, there is no separate seating arrangement by party. And as the Speaker does not belong to any party, casting unfounded aspersions on him without basis is symbolic of cheap and low mentality.” 

But the Opposition is firm on highlighting the issue, with former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asking for an investigation into the matter. He said, “The two cameras installed in the Assembly are controlled from the Speaker’s chamber, allowing him and his private secretary to see and hear everything. This is a serious crime and must be investigated.”

Although the wires of the cameras have now been removed, the Opposition alleges this is being done to destroy evidence and cover their tracks. Till now, no investigation has been ordered into the incident. 

Political commentators say the rumbles within the BJP are visible from time to time. Like former chief minister Vasundhara Raje recently said in a religious event in Dholpur that she attended, “Every person experiences a phase of vanvaas (exile) in life, but it eventually passes.” She further said, “These days, the world is very strange. The one you consider your own often turns away. In everyone's life, there comes a 'vanvaas', but just as it comes, it also goes away.”

A two-time chief minister with a large mass base, Raje has been completely relegated to the background with no powerful position even in the state unit. 

“As Raje has been completely sidelined in the party, her utterances from time to time indicate that she is biding her time, waiting in the wings to make a move,” says senior political commentator Narayan Bareth. 

He added, “That the cameras were installed behind the Opposition leaders and also behind some of Raje’s supporters to monitor their conversations and pick up any sign of rebellion, after the House was adjourned, clearly indicates that this was being done at the behest of top leaders. And there is an undercurrent of hostility amongst the various factions in the BJP. It is clearly a pressure tactic.”

Political observers also say this kind of installation of cameras requires that the Opposition be taken into confidence and told about the reasons and the requirements, which has not been done here. Also, this sort of surveillance incident has never happened in Rajasthan before. 

Bareth said, “There is a definite trust deficit between the ruling party and the Opposition, which is a dangerous and unhealthy trend in a vibrant democracy. This move is going to have repercussions within the party.”