Gandhinagar: After Karnataka, BJP was hit by
another porngate scandal in the Assembly where two ruling
party MLAs in Gujarat allegedly watched obscene pictures of
women prompting the Speaker to order a probe and also target
the media.
Speaker Ganpat Vasava while ordering the probe by the
Privileges Committee following a complaint by a journalist of
a vernacular newspaper Janak Dave also ordered that the
i-pads of Shankar Chaudhary and Jetha Bharward be seized
and sent for forensic tests.
Dave alleged that the two MLAs were yesterday found
purportedly watching sleazy pictures on a tablet during the
House proceedings.
The two MLAs have rejected the accusations and dubbed it
as a conspiracy to malign them and the party.
Gujarat government spokesman Jainarayan Vyas ruled out
suspension of the two MLAs and said they should not be
subjected to a "media trial" pending completion of
investigations.
"I order a probe into the allegations against the two
MLAs which are very serious and prima facie it seems to be
breach of their special rights under section 194 of the
Constitution," Vasava said, adding "This has projected the
House in a poor light and it seems to be a conspiracy to
malign the House."
"Such incidents cannot be tolerated in Parliamentary
democracy if elected representatives are targeted by media in
such a manner that they have to face humiliation," he said and
ordered a probe by the Privileges Committee which has members
from both the ruling party and the opposition.
The issue generated a lot of heat with Congress
demanding dismissal of the two MLAs, forcing adjournment of
the House twice.
Shouting slogans they tore papers and littered the floor.
As repeated attempts by the Chair failed to restore
order, the Congress MLAs were suspended for a day through a
motion brought by Legislative Affairs Minister Pradipsinh
Jadeja which was carried by a voice vote.
The episode has come less than a month after three
ministers in BJP-ruled Karnataka were caught allegedly viewing
pornographic clips on a mobile phone during Assembly
proceedings in Bangalore last month.
A Karnataka Legislature Committee set up to probe the
porngate episode gave a clean chit to two former ministers
while recommending that another BJP member be censured for
watching porn clips on the mobile
"Chaudhary showed his tab to another MLA Bharwad. First
they started by watching the pictures of Swami Vivekananda,
then cartoons and then pictures of women," Dave alleged.
"Some of us went to Speaker's (Ganpat Parmar) chamber
and complained about it to his PA, who informed the Speaker
and the viewing was stopped," Dave said.
"I had not viewed any obscene clips in the House and
allegation like this cannot be tolerated. I have never in my
life seen such clips," Chaudhary told the House which
descended into chaos over the incident with the Opposition
going after the BJP MLAs.
"I am willing to deposit my i-pad/tablet before you
(speaker) for investigation. If I have done any wrong then I
would quit politics," Chaudhary said.
Bharwad was quick to dismiss the allegation as a
"conspiracy" aimed at giving a bad name to them and the party.
"This shows that the level and culture of BJP has
declined. Their MPs were found guilty in cash-for-question
scam in Parliament, their MLAs have been found guilty in
porngate in Karnataka and now in Gujarat too," state Congress
president Arjun Modhvadia said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 11:40