Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday stated that the government will ask the Karnataka Assembly Speaker to reconsider the ban he imposed on TV channels on photographing and video-graphing the proceedings of the Assembly. The Chief Minister stated that he will hold talks with the Speaker and that things will go back to the way they were by the next Assembly session.
"When I say something, it means that I will do as I say, 100%. By the next Assembly session, I will ensure that things will go back to the way they were. I will hold talks with the Speaker and tell him to change his decision," Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said.
Earlier this month, on October 9, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri had stated that while journalists will be allowed to sit in the press gallery, private TV channels will not be allowed to bring in their cameras and record proceedings using their cameras or even phones. Similar to Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV, the output of the live proceedings will be shared by the Assembly.
At the time, shortly after the Speaker announced his decision, the Chief Minister's Office tweeted from its official handle stating that Yediyurappa would request the Speaker to revoke the ban. However, a few hours later, the tweet was deleted. At the time, sources with the BJP had said that the tweet was deleted because Yediyurappa's statement could have given the media the impression of infighting within the BJP. "His statement was against party diktat so the tweet was taken down," the source added. The call on the ban was taken by the BJP national leadership, the source said.
After the Speaker’s decision, print, digital and television journalists working in the state including a number of photographers and videographers of regional and national news organisations held a protest at the Gandhi Statue in Maurya Circle in Bengaluru against the ban on TV cameras.
The protesters referenced the incident which occurred in 2012 when television news channels capturing footage of the then Karnataka MLA and minister Laxman Savadi watching porn inside the Assembly. The incident caused an uproar following which Laxman was forced to resign from his position as minister. He is currently the Deputy Chief Minister and the Minister of Transport in the state.