Congress MP Rahul Gandhi participates in a discussion on Motion of No-Confidence in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
The Congress on Wednesday claimed that Sansad TV showed Rahul Gandhi for just over 14 minutes on screen while he spoke for 37 minutes during the debate on the no-confidence motion.
Party General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "In his first speech after coming back from the unjustified disqualification, Rahul Gandhi spoke from 12:09 pm to 12:46 pm i.e. 37 minutes during the No-Confidence Motion."
"Out of which the Sansad TV camera showed him for only 14 mins 37 seconds. That’s less than 40% screen time! What is Mr. Modi afraid of?" he asked.
In another tweet, Ramesh added, “Rahul Gandhi spoke on Manipur for 15:42 minutes during which Sansad TV’s cameras focussed on the Speaker Om Birla for 11:08 minutes i.e. 71% of the time. Sansad TV showed Rahul Gandhi on screen for only 4:34 minutes while he spoke on Manipur.”
Congress MP TN Prathapan wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking action against Sansad TV officials involved in "violations", saying the broadcaster "cannot be a tool for government propaganda" and it is "grossly unfair, undemocratic and against all ethical codes of Sansad TV, which is supposed to be neutral".
Recalling the time Sansad TV showed Rahul, Prathapan also said the channel displayed tickers related to the government's achievements during the debate on the no-confidence motion. "These types of blatant violations have never occurred in the past," he said.
Senior Congress functionary Sandeep Singh tweeted, "...Rahul-ji spoke on Manipur for 15 minutes 42 seconds, out of which the camera kept showing the Speaker for 11 minutes 08 seconds. The screen time for Rahul-ji was just four minutes. Why is the cowardly King so afraid of the truth?"
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale wrote a letter to Sansad TV CEO Rajit Punhani expressing "great concern and urgency" regarding the "unfair and mischievous camera switching" during the broadcast of the Upper House sessions on Sansad TV.
He said he has noticed that while Treasury Benches are "prominently shown during the live telecast", the camera "barely ever shows the Opposition Benches".
Gokhale said that Sansad TV is a public broadcaster and is required to be non-partisan and broadcast equal coverage on Live TV for both sides. "To focus only on the government benches while completely blacking out footage of Opposition benches raises questions of bias and partisanship," he said.
He also said his office could send Sansad TV analytics of how many minutes of time were given to Treasury benches versus Opposition benches. "It has been noticed that the camera does not focus on or show the Opposition benches even when an MP is speaking," he added.
On Tuesday, Opposition MPs protested the Sansad TV running scrolls on the achievements of the government during the telecast of the debate. The Lok Sabha was briefly disrupted as Opposition MPs protested tickers running on Sansad TV that highlighted the development works of the government.
Soon after BJP member Nishikant Dubey began speaking against the motion, several opposition members, including the Congress, TMC and the DMK protested over the issue.
Some members of the treasury benches, including ministers, were seen taking a swipe at the Opposition for its "inability to come to terms with the development ushered in by the government".
Speaker Om Birla said he had given instructions to stop the tickers.