Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Bhagwant Mann live-streamed Parliament video on Facebook
Political parties today united to demand action against Bhagwant Mann, a lawmaker from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), of severely compromising the security of parliament for filming his drive into the building with a running commentary of the security checks he cleared.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
- Mr Mann, 42, who represents Punjab in the Lok Sabha, has given a letter of what he described as "unconditional apology" to Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and has offered to make a similar statement in parliament.
- "An apology is not enough, since all party members are upset," said Ms Mahajan, adding that a committee may be formed to investigate Mr Mann.
- Ms Mahajan said she is also looking into complaints of Mr Mann being drunk at parliament, a charge he denied to reporters today. A written complaint has been filed by Harinder Singh Khalsa, suspended by the Aam Aadmi Party a year ago for indiscipline, who is allotted the seat next to Mr Mann in parliament.
- Ms Mahajan said other MPs have also complained that Mr Mann reeks of alcohol.
- There were angry disruptions in parliament today over Mr Mann's video gimmick. Yesterday, he live-streamed his arrival in parliament on Facebook yesterday and then posted a 12-minute video of his experience. The video has now been taken down.
- The areas he filmed included the gate through which a carload of terrorists drove up to the main building in 2001. Nine people were killed in addition to the five terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Since then, strict rules determine what parts of parliament can be filmed by the press or others.
- Mr Mann said he wanted to give his constituency a first-hand experience of how parliament functions, and what exactly he does there as its representative.
- "I'll today show you something you would not have seen earlier," Mr Mann says, introducing the video.
- His film includes access to the room where questions are selected for Zero Hour which starts the proceedings every morning. A security guard urges him not to film the area.
- The campaign for punishing Mr Mann is being led by representatives of the BJP and the Akali Dal, who co-govern Punjab, which votes in the next few months. With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal campaigning aggressively for AAP, the party's popularity in the state has surged.
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