TMC's Kirti Azad was smoking e-cigarette in Lok Sabha: BJP

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The BJP alleged on Wednesday that it was Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad who was vaping in the Lok Sabha, days after former Union minister Anurag Thakur raised the issue in the House and got a written complaint lodged with the speaker against an unnamed TMC lawmaker.

Hitting back at the saffron party, TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said it should release the entire video footage of the incident first, before levelling such allegations.

"The TMC MP accused by BJP MP Anurag Thakur of vaping inside Parliament is none other than Kirti Azad. For people like him, rules and laws clearly hold no meaning. Just imagine the audacity, hiding an e-cigarette in his palm while in the House," BJP co-incharge for West Bengal Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

He also posted video footage on the microblogging platform purportedly showing Azad sitting inside the Lok Sabha.

"Smoking may not be illegal, but using it in Parliament is entirely unacceptable," the BJP leader said, while demanding that TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must clarify on her MP's "misconduct".

There was no immediate response from Azad to the allegation levelled against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On the saffron party's allegation against Azad, Abhishek Banerjee told reporters at the Kolkata airport, "Until I see the full video footage, I cannot make any comment based solely on someone's allegation." "If the full video is released, you may question me then, and we will issue a show-cause notice and take appropriate action at the party level," he added.

Banerjee said there are more than 50 cameras inside Parliament.

"Let them release the full footage and we will take necessary action. Until then I will not give a reply to someone who has released a five-second footage," the TMC leader said.

"We do not encourage such behaviour. Parliament is not a place for smoking, at least, not inside the House. We respect Parliament's dignity and rules," he added.

Thakur got a written complaint lodged with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla last week, demanding action against a TMC lawmaker for allegedly smoking an e-cigarette inside the House.

Thakur had also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, without naming the TMC MP.

In his complaint, the MP from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur said, "A member of Parliament belonging to the All India Trinamool Congress was seen openly using an electronic cigarette while seated in the House during the sittings." The act was "clearly visible" to several members present in the House, he added.

Such conduct lowers the dignity of the House, sets an "extremely poor precedent" and sends a dangerous message to the country's youngsters at a time when the government and Parliament have taken a firm stand against all forms of tobacco and nicotine products, Thakur said.

"Therefore, earnestly request you to take immediate cognisance of this serious breach of rules and law; direct an inquiry into the incident through the appropriate committee or mechanism of the House," the BJP MP said in his letter to the speaker.

He also urged Birla to initiate "appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the member concerned", in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

"Ensure that exemplary action is taken and is placed on record so that the sanctity and dignity of the House is upheld," the former Union minister said.

Birla had told the Lok Sabha that if a written complaint is lodged in the matter, he will take action.

Hitting back at Thakur, Azad had said the BJP MP wasted the Lok Sabha's time by raising the issue in the House.

"If you get a complaint lodge against any MP or party, the allegation has to be proved. There are rules and regulations in the Lok Sabha. He (Thakur) has served as a Union minister. Such a person, who does not know the rules and regulations, is levelling an allegation. It has to be proved," the TMC leader told reporters in the Parliament House complex, when asked about the BJP MP's complaint.

"If I level an allegation that Anurag Thakur and BJP MPs take 40 per cent commission in government works, I will have to submit some proof to substantiate it. I know they take (commission), but I do not have any proof. Then what do I do?" he said.

Azad said the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha is meant for all the MPs to raise their issues in the House.

"But he was wasting time and the speaker rapped him," the TMC MP claimed.

Azad also wondered why Thakur had not named the MP against whom he had levelled the allegation.

"Who did that (smoking an e-cigarette)?... Take a name," he said.

E-cigarettes were banned in the country a few years ago. PTI PK AO RC