Karnataka: Congress MLC caught in row over ‘video clip’ in House

BENGALURU: Congress member of the Legislative Council and former Ranji cricketer Prakash Rathod found himself in the eye of a storm on Friday after a vernacular television channel claimed that he was watching a ‘sleazy video clip’ inside the House.

In a video doing the rounds, the lawmaker can be seen scrolling through the gallery on his mobile phone.

When contacted, Prakash Rathod explained that he had listed a question (No. 7 on the agenda), which is sent to members on their computers or mobile phones.

“I was checking for the download on my mobile phone when I noticed that the device was clogged and hence, I was scrolling and deleting some content to clear phone memory. This is when the TV channel took the visuals and has been mischievously claiming that I was watching porn inside the House,” he said. 

MLC Rathod to brief media today

The lawmaker insisted that the channel should stop airing defamatory content against him, failing which he will file a defamation case. He said he will contact his lawyers and brief the media on Saturday.

A few years ago, then ministers Laxman Savadi, C C Patil and Krishna Palemar were dropped from the cabinet after they were caught watching porn in the Assembly. More recently, MLA Tanveer Sait was accused of watching porn at a public programme.