Why Sansad TV's Ticker Sparked Opposition Fury During No-Confidence Debate

The contents of the narrow ticker running during live telecast of Lok Sabha proceedings today sparked a huge row during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government.

Gaurav Gogoi, Congress's deputy leader in Lok Sabha, started the debate following an uproar over BJP MPs asking why Rahul Gandhi was not the first speaker. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey was listed as the next speaker.

But before his address, Danish Ali, MP from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, pointed out that the ticker on Sansad TV was running updates on government's achievements instead of reflecting the ongoing debate proceedings. Incidentally, the Bahujan Samaj Party is neither backing nor opposing the no-confidence motion.

Mr Ali's remark prompted a huge uproar and Opposition MPs started protesting. Amid the chaos, Speaker Om Birla said in a light vein, "Mere paas button nahi hai (I don't have the button)." The Speaker also told Mr Dubey that the Opposition was "scared" of his speech.

In the speech that followed, Mr Dubey hit out at the Opposition and Mr Ali. He took a swipe at the Amroha MP over a recent video of a heated argument between Mr Ali and a BJP legislator at a public event.

Amid the row over the viral video, BJP MLC Hari Singh Dhillon had claimed that Mr Ali had protested against "Bharat Mata ki Jai" slogans at a government event. The Bahujan Samaj Party leader has said that BJP leaders occupied the stage and started raising slogans in support of their leaders. He questioned how a government event stage could be turned into a political show.

The no-confidence motion was brought by the Opposition as a last-ditch attempt to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi into addressing Parliament on the Manipur situation.