Oppn accuses speaker of 'snooping' inside assembly
Jaipur, Sept. 14 -- Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra on Saturday accused assembly speaker Vasudev Devnani of "snooping", two day after his party's delegation alleged that the BJP-led state government had secretly installed spy cameras in the House.
Addressing a press meeting at the PCC headquarters in Jaipur, Dotasra said, "Two to three leaders of Congress may definitely be under their radar. But, the Speaker's main intention behind installing these cameras is to spy on our women MLAs from his restroom. He wants to see what they do, what they wear. It is extremely shameful."
As a Speaker, he has tarnished the dignity of his chair. It is not acceptable. Our women leaders will hold a press conference and raise this issue later," he added.
Dotasra questioned why the footage from the two new cameras allegedly installed was broadcast only to the speaker's restroom.
"This selective access and monitoring of proceedings, including private discussions among members. This is not just about recording speeches on the floor. These cameras can capture even off-the-record conversations. It is a matter of privilege, secrecy, and the dignity of the House," he said.
Meanwhile, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully on Saturday demanded a probe by the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) into the allegations. "This is a serious matter and constitutes a criminal offence how the Speaker has installed two cameras in the assembly where opposition leaders sit and kept the access only limited to himself. There are necessary CCTV cameras which have already been installed in the assembly for security purposes. What was the need for these two additional cameras? Our leaders reached out to the Governor over the matter and there should be a high-level CBI probe into it," said Gehlot.
"The government has failed to clarify why those cameras were installed. Usually, the footage of these cameras installed in the assembly are available on YouTube. But nobody has access to the footage of these two cameras," said Jully. "The government stated that only the existing cameras had been upgraded, but we had already found evidence from their tender documents that these are not those ones," he told reporters.
After the mass walkouts staged by Congress MLAs on Wednesday, the Speaker issued a clarification with regard to the new cameras.
"There is no invasion of privacy. Such allegations are baseless. Even Parliament functions with cameras," he said, adding that the cameras did not record audio and had been installed as part of upgrades under the "One Nation, One Application" project.
Hitting back at Dotasra's comments, BJP spokesperson Laxmikant Bharadwaj, said, "Congress has no moral value. They have stooped so low that they can make any comment on anyone. Nobody scandalised Rajasthan's politics with such bizarre comments like Dotasra. Congress should also remember that there is none like them to conduct such snooping operations on leaders."...
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