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Porno film watching case: Three ministers in Karnataka quit
Bowing to the directives of the party central leadership, three BJP ministers in Karnataka today resigned after they were engulfed in a row over watching sleazy clippings during the Assembly proceedings.
A day after the incident caused huge embarrassment to the BJP government, all the three tainted ministers were summoned to the party office and were asked to submit their resignation after a meeting of the senior leaders presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.
Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi, Minister for Women and Child Development C C Patil and Minister for Ports and Science and Technology Krishna Palemar announced after a meeting with top leaders that they have decided to quit.
"We don't want the party and the government to face further embarrassment. All of us have decided to resign from the ministry", Savadi told reporters outside the BJP office.
Savadi and Patil demanded that the Speaker of the state assembly K G Bopaiah institute a probe into the issue of watching the porno video footage and expressed confidence that "they would come clean from the allegations".
Palemar, another minister, who had to pay a price for allegedly providing the blue film clippings to Savadi said he was contemplating legal course over the issue.
Savadi and Patil were caught yesterday while they were allegedly viewing the porno video footage inside the state assembly, an incident that battered the image of the Sadananda Gowda Government and BJP, evoking widespread condemnation across the state.
Under the directions of BJP National President Nitin Gadkari, Gowda today held a meeting with the state unit Party President K S Eswarappa, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, senior ministers Jagadish Shettar and Govind Karjol in the party office and decided to ask the three ministers to put in their papers.
Savadi and Patil said they would submit their resignation to Gowda and request him to accept it.
Savadi and Patil, who had to demit the ministry under cloud, blamed the media for blowing the incident out of proportion.
Savadi said they were resigning to save the party and the Government from embarrassment. "We will appeal to the Chief Minister, Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa to accept our resignation.
"We will appeal to the Speaker in the Assembly to order an enquiry to uncover the truth. We are ready to face any enquiry", Savadi said, adding "Media is projecting us as criminals all over the state".
To a question, Savadi said they are quitting voluntarily and there was no pressure on them to do so.
Palemar said he does not know how to pass on such clips, adding, his innocence would be proved in an inquiry. "When there is an allegation, it's not correct to continue as Minister", he said. "There is a wrong perception (on the issue) and let there be an inquiry".
In a bizarre defence, Savadi had last night said the clip showed some men dancing with a woman and then gang-raping her. The rapists were later arrested by the police and then stoned in public, Savadi said, adding, he was watching it in the context of a discussion on "rave party" (in an island off Udupi) earlier in the Legislative Council.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs S Suresh Kumar said the three ministers quit on their own to avoid embarrassment to the party and its government.
"They (ministers) came and met the leaders this morning and offered to resign from the ministry on their own. I don't think there was any direction from the party high command," he told reporters.
Kumar admitted that despite the resignation by the ministers, the incident of viewing of porno video would "certainly" cause embarrassment to the party and its workers.
When asked whether the Speaker K G Bopaiah will take action, Kumar said "Speaker is the custodian of the house. He will take a suitable decision".
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister called on the Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankara Murthy and Bopaiah and discussed the video clipping row.
Gadkari assures of suitable action against Karnataka ministers
Allahabad: BJP national president Nitin Gadkari today said an inquiry would be ordered against the three Karnataka ministers who have been accused of watching porn inside the state Assembly and "suitable action" would follow.
"As of now, all the three ministers claim to be innocent. However, an inquiry will be ordered into the episode and suitable action will be taken by the Chief Minister of the state", Gadkari told reporters here.
Admitting that the allegations have "evoked an outcry which is natural", the BJP president assured that "suitable action will follow once the inquiry is completed and the allegations are proved or disproved".
He said, "there is deterioration in all walks of life. Unfortunately, politics has not remained immune to that. Though such things do lead to embarrassment".
Gadkari had last night spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda over phone on the issue. Sources close to Gadkari said he also spoke to the party's state unit chief K S Eswarappa on the incident.
A regional TV channel aired the footage of Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi and Minister for Women and Child Development C C Patil watching the allegedly porn clippings when the assembly was debating the issue of hoisting of Pakistan national flag in a town in Bijapur district on the New Year's day.
The footage telecast also by some regional channels after the assembly adjourned for the day, showed Savadi watching the video and later joined by Patil for a brief while.
Bowing to the directives of the party central leadership, three BJP ministers in Karnataka today resigned after they were engulfed in a row over watching sleazy clippings during the Assembly proceedings.
A day after the incident caused huge embarrassment to the BJP government, all the three tainted ministers were summoned to the party office and were asked to submit their resignation after a meeting of the senior leaders presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.
Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi, Minister for Women and Child Development C C Patil and Minister for Ports and Science and Technology Krishna Palemar announced after a meeting with top leaders that they have decided to quit.
"We don't want the party and the government to face further embarrassment. All of us have decided to resign from the ministry", Savadi told reporters outside the BJP office.
Savadi and Patil demanded that the Speaker of the state assembly K G Bopaiah institute a probe into the issue of watching the porno video footage and expressed confidence that "they would come clean from the allegations".
Palemar, another minister, who had to pay a price for allegedly providing the blue film clippings to Savadi said he was contemplating legal course over the issue.
Savadi and Patil were caught yesterday while they were allegedly viewing the porno video footage inside the state assembly, an incident that battered the image of the Sadananda Gowda Government and BJP, evoking widespread condemnation across the state.
Under the directions of BJP National President Nitin Gadkari, Gowda today held a meeting with the state unit Party President K S Eswarappa, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, senior ministers Jagadish Shettar and Govind Karjol in the party office and decided to ask the three ministers to put in their papers.
Savadi and Patil said they would submit their resignation to Gowda and request him to accept it.
Savadi and Patil, who had to demit the ministry under cloud, blamed the media for blowing the incident out of proportion.
Savadi said they were resigning to save the party and the Government from embarrassment. "We will appeal to the Chief Minister, Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa to accept our resignation.
"We will appeal to the Speaker in the Assembly to order an enquiry to uncover the truth. We are ready to face any enquiry", Savadi said, adding "Media is projecting us as criminals all over the state".
To a question, Savadi said they are quitting voluntarily and there was no pressure on them to do so.
Palemar said he does not know how to pass on such clips, adding, his innocence would be proved in an inquiry. "When there is an allegation, it's not correct to continue as Minister", he said. "There is a wrong perception (on the issue) and let there be an inquiry".
In a bizarre defence, Savadi had last night said the clip showed some men dancing with a woman and then gang-raping her. The rapists were later arrested by the police and then stoned in public, Savadi said, adding, he was watching it in the context of a discussion on "rave party" (in an island off Udupi) earlier in the Legislative Council.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs S Suresh Kumar said the three ministers quit on their own to avoid embarrassment to the party and its government.
"They (ministers) came and met the leaders this morning and offered to resign from the ministry on their own. I don't think there was any direction from the party high command," he told reporters.
Kumar admitted that despite the resignation by the ministers, the incident of viewing of porno video would "certainly" cause embarrassment to the party and its workers.
When asked whether the Speaker K G Bopaiah will take action, Kumar said "Speaker is the custodian of the house. He will take a suitable decision".
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister called on the Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankara Murthy and Bopaiah and discussed the video clipping row.
Gadkari assures of suitable action against Karnataka ministers
Allahabad: BJP national president Nitin Gadkari today said an inquiry would be ordered against the three Karnataka ministers who have been accused of watching porn inside the state Assembly and "suitable action" would follow.
"As of now, all the three ministers claim to be innocent. However, an inquiry will be ordered into the episode and suitable action will be taken by the Chief Minister of the state", Gadkari told reporters here.
Admitting that the allegations have "evoked an outcry which is natural", the BJP president assured that "suitable action will follow once the inquiry is completed and the allegations are proved or disproved".
He said, "there is deterioration in all walks of life. Unfortunately, politics has not remained immune to that. Though such things do lead to embarrassment".
Gadkari had last night spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda over phone on the issue. Sources close to Gadkari said he also spoke to the party's state unit chief K S Eswarappa on the incident.
A regional TV channel aired the footage of Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi and Minister for Women and Child Development C C Patil watching the allegedly porn clippings when the assembly was debating the issue of hoisting of Pakistan national flag in a town in Bijapur district on the New Year's day.
The footage telecast also by some regional channels after the assembly adjourned for the day, showed Savadi watching the video and later joined by Patil for a brief while.
