Thaindian News

Allahabad/New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership Wednesday termed as “unfortunate” the three party ministers being caught watching porn in the Karnataka assembly and said the incident will be probed.

Even as the three ministers, as also the Karnataka chief minister, claimed they resigned voluntarily, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said it was the party that took action against them.

Talking to reporters in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, where the first phase of state assembly elections were on, Gadkari said a probe would be carried out. “First of all, they said they are innocent. We said resign immediately and an inquiry will be done,” Gadkari said.

“It is unfortunate,” he added.

Stating that the party had taken the high moral ground, Gadkari said he had told Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda that action should be taken immediately.

He also said it was an issue of deterioration in society.

“There is deterioration in every sector, whether it is the media or administration or society. It is a matter of concern,” Gadkari said.

Senior party leader Arun Jaitley said there was a sense of regret in the party over the incident.

“We have a deep sense of regret that any of our members should be involved, unlike what happened in the Raj Bhavan (governor’s residence) in Hyderabad or in Rajasthan, we have taken the responsibility,” Jaitley said in Shahjahanpur.

The reference was to former Andhra Pradesh governor N.D. Tiwari being caught in a sex scandal and sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna allegedly featuring in a sleaze CD with nurse Bhanwari Devi, who was subsequently kidnapped and killed.

Speaking in Delhi, party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said tough action will be taken against the three.

“The incident is unacceptable, BJP has said this clearly and also taken the resignation of those ministers. We have also made it clear that tough action will be taken against them. But naturally, inquiry will be done,” he told reporters.

“If the members think it is a breach of privilege, any member is free to take this up as a matter of breach of privilege,” Rudy added.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Congress for trying to play moral police.

“Congress has much to explain about when the Raj Bhavan was misused. How can they be the moral police,” Sitharaman told a news channel.

The three Karnataka ministers — Laxman Savadi, C.C. Patil and J. Krishna Palemar — resigned Wednesday, a day after two of them were caught watching porn on the third minister’s phone in the state assembly. The opposition is clamouring for their expulsion from the house.