Voice of elected reps suppressed: Priyank Kharge on restricted media coverage in K'nataka Assembly

Hitting out at the BJP government, Congress MLA Priyank Kharge on Thursday said the voice of elected representatives was being suppressed after Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri barred media from telecasting House proceedings.

"Speaker of Karnataka's assembly has disallowed TV channel cameras from recording the proceedings. The sinister intention behind it became clear today, during the debate on flood relief the state-run camera was purposefully ignoring the opposition's protests," he tweeted.

"Whenever Opposition spoke against Govt's failure to handle flood relief, the voice was drowned out & the focus of the camera was on the treasury benches, Speaker or a long shot of the assembly! This seems to be Govt's strategy to ensure opposition's voice is not heard by people," Kharge said in another tweet.

The Congress legislator said that the bedrock of our democracy is an accountable government and vibrant opposition.

"For the first time ever in Karnataka's history, the voice of elected representatives is being suppressed on the floor of the house. Why is the Govt or Speaker so afraid of a live broadcast? When there is no footage shot? What can the Pvt channels download from DD? Only half of the narrative or a controlled narrative goes to public which will create a biased public opinion. The public will never get to see what the opposition stands for? Is this democracy?" he tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said that he would request State Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri to reconsider his decision on barring media from telecasting the house proceedings.

The decision was taken ahead of the three-day winter session of the Karnataka Assembly.

"My government is always committed to freedom of media. I will make a sincere effort and request speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri to reconsider his decision on barring media from telecasting the house proceedings," tweeted Chief Minister's Office Karnataka.

As per the order, only Doordarshan cameras are allowed inside the Legislative Assembly.