BJP condemns blackout of LS TV coverage

The proceedings during the passage of the Telangana Bill in the Parliament was blacked out yesterday

BJP today condemned the blackout of Lok Sabha TV coverage when the crucial Telangana bill was taken up in Lok Sabha and passed a resolution against it.

The blackout was planned and not a technical glitch as has been claimed by the Lok Sabha Secretariat yesterday, the BJP Parliamentary Party said.

The Parliamentary Party meeting, chaired by L K Advani, demanded that the proceedings be shown live when the bill is taken up in Rajya Sabha.

"A resolution has been passed by the party, saying the blackout was planned and not a technical glitch. This is in a way a disregard for democracy and democratic traditions were destroyed so that the country should not see the debate on the issue," the party's Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"Serious questions have been raised on the credibility of Lok Sabha Secretariat and it has to answer under whose pressure the black out was done. It has also come out that the recording has not been done at all. Why was no audio or video recording done?" he said after the meeting at Parliament House Annexe.

Prasad said it is the duty of ruling Congress to ensure that proper debate takes place in Rajya Sabha and all members, including those from BJP, should be allowed to move amendments.

As this was the last meeting of the Parliamentary Party in the current Lok Sabha, Advani exhorted all members to work tirelessly to bring the party to power in the general elections. He strongly condemned the blackout of the proceedings in LS.

The 90-minute crucial proceedings during which the controversial Telangana bill was passed in Lok Sabha yesterday were blacked out as there was no live coverage on Lok Sabha TV.

CEO of Lok Sabha TV Rajiv Mishra has said it was due to a technical snag that occurred in room no. 50 in Parliament House from where the channel gets live feed.