GUWAHATI: An MLA of the ruling BJP in Tripura claimed that he was inadvertently directed to vulgar content after being caught watching porn on his mobile phone in the Assembly.
“I was listening to the news. I don’t know how it happened. Perhaps, I wrongly pressed something,” the lawmaker – Jadab Lal Nath (55) – told The New Indian Express on Thursday.
He was with the CPI (M) and he joined the BJP ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.
The incident, which took place on the second day of the Assembly session on Monday, came to light on Wednesday evening after a video of it went viral on social media.
“I know I cannot watch this in the Assembly. This is a serious crime,” Nath said, adding, “I learnt about the viral video on Wednesday afternoon.”
He also said that neither Assembly Speaker Biswabandhu Sen nor the Assembly Secretariat contacted him so far.
“I will act as per the direction of the Speaker and my party president Rajiv Bhattacharjee,” Nath said.
He said Bhattacharjee had contacted him asking if he (Nath) was aware of the viral video.
“I will meet the party president today and then decide on whatever I need to do,” the MLA further said.
The party’s state leadership has sought clarification from him. Calls made to the Speaker went unattended.
In 2012, three BJP ministers in Karnataka had resigned after they were caught on camera watching porn on their phones during Assembly proceedings. Then in 2015, a Congress MLA in Odisha was suspended for seven days by the Speaker for a similar offence.