It was not a case of the electronic media snooping around for a scoop, but one that fell into their lap thanks to our (un)worthy ministers Lakshman Savadi and CC Patil turning and twisting furtively in their seats as they savoured the illicit porn fruit in the august environs of the assembly on Tuesday. Minister who blamed rape on skimpy clothes caught watching porn in legislative assembly
JDS MLA Nadagouda Venkataram was speaking during the assembly session when Savadi and Patil were caught on camera watching porn on the former’s cellphone. Cameras of private television channels are given space in the visitor’s gallery. Usually, the cameras focus on the legislator who is making a speech and it is only when there is a disruption, either verbal or physical, that the cameras focus on others. Cameramen say it is usually a dull job unless some legislator gets up to some antics.
All the cameras were focused on Nadagouda when Savadi caught the eye of one of the cameramen with his strange behaviour. The minister knew that the cameras were behind him and at a higher level. He turned back, as if trying to see if the cameras were focused elsewhere. A little while later, Savadi once again turned back and looked towards the cameramen to make sure he was not being watched.
This was too much of a coincidence for the cameraman, who decided to take a closer look. Just then, CC Patil joined Savadi and turned towards the cameras.
The cameraman decided to zoom in on Savadi to check what he was up to. And he hit the jackpot. The minister was fidgeting with his mobile phone and while the camera stayed zoomed on him, he watched four porn clippings one after the other. At one point, CC Patil even turned the phone screen towards himself. Meanwhile, the cameraman of another channel picked up the clue and zoomed in on Savadi and Patil.
The incident has led to the two private Kannada channels claiming credit for the ‘scoop’, with both boasting of ‘exclusive’ footage. On Tuesday, the ‘exclusivity’ was short-lived as other news channels picked up the clips and telecast them. But it was a turf war on Wednesday with the rival cameramen coming on air, claiming to be the first to have zoomed in on the ministers in ‘porn mode’. ‘Savadi watched it for 20 mins’
When 32-year-old Srinivas Kulkarni of TV9 and 28-year-old Prashanth of Suvarna 24x7 reported for work on Tuesday morning, they had no inkling that within 24 hours they would be responsible for changing the face of the state cabinet. On Wednesday, porngate claimed the scalps of ministers Lakshman Savadi, Krishna Palemar and C C Patil.
“Savadi was sitting behind chief minister Sadananda Gowda and law minister Suresh Kumar in the second pew. The line of vision of my camera went straight over his shoulder and it was a clear shot. Savadi caught my attention when he scrutinised the gallery to see if anybody was watching him from above. He did this twice and then bent to watch something closely. That is when I zoomed in to see what had caught his attention and, boy, was I in for a surprise,” said Srinivas.
As is the practice, the cameras were set up in the visitor’s gallery overlooking the assembly on the right of the Speaker, where the ruling party sits. Another unit had set its cameras up on the other side of the gallery, below which the opposition sits. The approximate distance between the pews and the gallery is 15 feet.
Prashanth, who had noticed Srinivas focus on Savadi, zoomed in to find both the ministers relishing the video. “At that time, Nadagouda was talking about our national flag being desecrated in Pakistan. But both of them were so engrossed in the clip, they didn’t think of looking up to see if anyone from the gallery had noticed,” said this assistant cameraman who is still coming to terms with the fact that his footage has caused a national-level embarrassment to the BJP. “I had no idea there would be such a great fall-out. I honestly thought that after the telecast, the ministers would be called in by the Speaker and chastised for their conduct.”
Both cameramen had taken the precaution of sending a cassette of the recording to their channels just in case somebody found out what they had shot। “The OB van that is stationed outside records everything we shoot. But I had sent a cassette too to the office,” said Prashanth. Srinivas pooh-poohed Savadi’s defence that he watched the clip for just a couple of minutes. “I have a 20-minute footage of him watching the clip,” he said.
(Bangalore Mirror)
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