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 ipads of Shankar Chaudhary and Jetha Bharward be seized and sent for forensic tests.
Mr Dave alleged that the two MLAs were Tuesday 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,” Mr 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 Bengaluru in February.