In a purported video doing rounds on the internet, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Tripura was allegedly seen watching pornographic content on his mobile phone in the Vidhan Sabha while Budget session proceedings were underway in the assembly.
The video showing Tripura MLA Jadav Lal Nath, who represents Bagbassa constituency in the North Tripura district, has gone viral sparking outrage on social media platforms and drawing criticism.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal shared the video clip on her Twitter handle saying these MLAs that the public voted for to get work done are “sitting in the House watching porn with pleasure”. She condemned the incident, criticising the government for not taking action against such legislators.
“The public voted and thought that the MLAs would go to the Vidhansabha and get the work done for the people….But these Tripura MLAs are sitting in the House watching porn with pleasure. Who would have thought that one day the level of politics and politicians would stoop so low. Don't worry, no action will be taken against them,” Maliwal tweeted.
According to reports, the video was captured by someone sitting behind Nath.
The MLA claimed obscene videos started appearing on his phone as he received a call. "I know well that using mobile phones is prohibited in the House. As repeated calls were coming, I picked up a call, and then obscene videos started appearing on my phone. Anyways, I then closed it," he told PTI.
Nath said he has spoken to state BJP president Rajib Bhattacharya on the matter who told him to "wait".There has been no official comment from the BJP on the incident yet.
Speaker Biswabandhu Sen said he is yet to receive a complaint over the issue. “If any complaint is lodged, I will initiate an investigation and take appropriate action," he said.
‘Tarnished image of all MLAs’
Congress denounced the incident calling it shameful and said that Nath should be punished for it.
"This incident has tarnished the image of all MLAs. This man should be appropriately punished. Use of mobile phones is completely prohibited in the assembly, how could he watch pornography?" state Congress president Birajit Sinha said.
Leader of opposition Animesh Debbarma also demanded action against Nath. "The speaker should take stern action against such an act," he told reporters.
This is not the first time a legislator was caught watching porn during an assembly session. In 2012, three BJP ministers of Karnataka – Lakshman Savdi, CC Patil and Krishna Palemar – were allegedly caught watching pornographic content in the state assembly. They were forced to resign. However, Savdi and Patil were later reinstated by the party after they were cleared of any wrongdoing.
