The BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday that if the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha are not telecast live, there would be no debate.
“The government is going to bring the Telangana bill in the Rajya Sabha today (Wednesday). They have to ensure that the proceedings of the house are telecast live, otherwise there will be no debate,” Mr. Prasad told reporters.
“We have also heard that there are no visual and audio recordings of the Lok Sabha proceedings on Tuesday. So, the BJP wants to know why was it not taken,” he added.
PTI adds
BJP condemns LS TV blackout
The BJP on Wednesday 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 on Tuesday, 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.
Mr. 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, Mr. 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 Lok Sabha.
The 90-minute crucial proceedings during which the controversial Telangana bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday 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.
