Karnataka edu minister says porn was WhatsApp forward, opened it 'accidentally'

Karnataka's primary and secondary education minister Tanveer Sait was found watching pornographic photographs on his mobile phone on Thursday during the Tipu Jayanthi celebrations in Raichur. On Friday, he told ANI that he had not been looking at the photos intentionally. "I did not open that picture (porn) intentionally, it was on a WhatsApp group and it opened accidentally," Sait said.

A media channel ran footage of the minister viewing photographs of skimpily-clad girls on his phone while on the dais during the celebrations organised as a tribute to Tipu Sultan, the ruler of erstwhile Mysore kingdom who fought against the British. The minister is seen browsing photographs of the girl while other speakers are lauding Tipu Sultan.

Though the minister and the Congress are yet to react, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been criticising the government for organising Tipu Jayanthi, has demanded the minister's resignation. BJP leader KS Eshwarappa said: "He has no moral authority to continue as a minister, he should resign immediately."

This is the second such scandal that has surfaced in Karnataka in the recent times. In 2012, two BJP ministers were caught viewing porn on their mobile phones inside the legislative assembly.