Embarrassed by Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanvir Sait being allegedly caught seeing “objectionable” pictures of women on his cellphone during the Tipu Jayanti celebrations in Raichur on Thursday, the Congress said it would look into the issue and take appropriate action.
While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he will “speak to the Minister” and decide the next course of action, working president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Dinesh Gundu Rao said more candidly that “political leaders should lead by example.” He said the party would seek a report from him and examine media footage.
Later in the day, the Chief Minister and Home Minister G. Parameshwara held a meeting and decided to bring the issue to the notice of the High Command. Meanwhile, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayath Raj H.K. Patil defended Mr. Sait saying he would not indulge in such behaviour as he was one of the “well-behaved Ministers” in the Cabinet.
BJP to step up protests
Principal Opposition BJP, meanwhile, has decided to step up protests seeking resignation of the Minister. About 25 BJP workers gathered at Teen Kandeel circle in Raichur within hours of the incident and raised slogans against Mr. Sait.
When the Congress was in the Opposition, the Chief Minister had demanded resignation of three BJP Ministers — Krishna Palemar, C.C. Patil, and Laxman Savadi — when they were allegedly caught watching porn videos on the floor of the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Rao, however, said the two were not comparable incidents.
Shivaraj Patil, JD(S) MLA, who was in the dais along with the Minister, said he was not aware of the Minister seeing images of women. “If it is true, the Minister should seek unconditional apology,” he said.
Some parent groups have demanded that Mr. Sait be sacked from the Cabinet for his “indecent act”.
