No live telecast of Lok Sabha TV during Telangana debate

NEW DELHI: The 90-minute crucial proceedings during which the controversial Telangana Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha were blacked out as there was no live coverage on Lok Sabha TV.

As soon as the Telangana Bill was taken up for consideration at around 3 pm and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde started speaking, the live telecast went out.

The Lok Sabha TV, which broadcasts the live coverage of all the proceedings, displayed 'House Adjourned'.

However, this was not the case as the proceedings were going on inside the House.

Some time later, the display changed to 'Live from Lok Sabha shortly'. But it never happened and the Bill was passed and the House was adjourned after 90 minutes of proceedings.

CEO of Lok Sabha TV Rajiv Mishra said it was due to a technical snag that occured in room no. 50 in Parliament House from where the channel gets live feed.

Mishra told PTI that after a minute's telecast, "signal did not come from the room", forcing us to telecast feelers.

"There was some technical snag and we had no option but to stop telecast," he said.

He said that after the snag he called an emergency meeting of technical personnel and he would get a report tomorrow.

However, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj dismissed the suggestion that the blackout in the Lok Sabha TV was due to a technical glitch and said instead it was "tactical" glitch.