'Not 3, 16 MLAs in watched porn in assembly that day'

It seems there were about a dozen more who had caught the porn-in-assembly bug on that embarrassing day. 

Nehru Olekar, a member of the legislature house panel, which is probing into the porn clip scandal, dropped a bombshell on Sunday when he said that it was not just three, but about 15 or 16 MLAs who watched the clip in the legislative assembly on February 7.

Also, it is not just MLAs belonging to ruling BJP alone, members from opposition Congress and JD(S) too were among those who watched it, he said.

“During the course of our investigations we found that about 15 to 16 MLAs had watched it. All of them will be summoned to depose before the probe panel to present their defence in the light of the new findings,” Olekar said while refusing to divulge their names.

He also said there was nothing wrong on part of the private channels which exposed the scandal.

It may be recalled that three former ministers — Lakshman Savadi, CC Patil and Krishna Palemar — have already quit after they were caught on camera by private TV channels watching porn in the assembly. They, too, will be summoned before the panel for deposition on March 8.

Chairman of the probe panel, Shreeshailappa Virupakshappa Bidarur, said the panel will submit its report by March 20.

The originally planned seven-member committee has now been reduced to an all-BJP members committee of just four after three opposition members — HC Mahadevappa, Amagegouda Bayyapur of Congress and Dinakar Setty of JD(S) — resigned from the panel.

They felt a probe committee was not required as the TV channels had clearly proved beyond doubt that the ministers were indeed watching porn during the assembly session.