Parliament video row: AAP defends Bhagwant Mann, hits out at BJP

Under mounting attack over the Parliament video row, Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann on Friday said he was ready for any probe after tendering an unconditional apology even as the party rallied behind him, saying BJP was trying to hype up a “non-issue” to deflect attention from attacks on Dalits in Gujarat.

Under mounting attack over the Parliament video row, Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann on Friday said he was ready for any probe after tendering an unconditional apology even as the party rallied behind him, saying BJP was trying to hype up a “non-issue” to deflect attention from attacks on Dalits in Gujarat.

Sangrur AAP MP Bhagwant Mann in New Delhi on Friday.(Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

As Mann’s filming of his drive into Parliament building accompanied with a running commentary rocked both houses of Parliament, the MP from Punjab said he had deleted the video from his Facebook wall and that his intention was not to compromise security of the institution.

Read: AAP has become shelter of comedians not having ideology, says BJP

Defending Mann, AAP said the video did not amount to security breach, and accused the BJP of trying to deflect attention from the issue of attacks on Dalits in Gujarat.

Read: Mann has vindicated public perception about AAP: Capt Amarinder

Earlier Mann, in a letter to speaker Sumitra Mahajan, tendered an “unconditional apology” for the video and said he made the “mistake inadvertently” and that he had no intention of compromising the security of Parliament.

“I only wanted to apprise the people of the process of selection of questions because they, at times, ask us why their questions were not raised. I wanted to show them that the questions are selected through a lucky draw. I have made an educational video,” he said.

Read: Parliament video puts Bhagwant Mann in a spot again

Party leader Ashutosh said the Lok Sabha member from Sangrur was only trying to “show” the procedure of asking questions during the Zero Hour.

“Adityanath, Sakshi Maharaj, Giriraj Singh are the biggest threat to country’s security and these leaders will add glory to Parliament, while Bhagwant Mann will be booked under NSA? What justice is this? (sic)” AAP leader Sanjay Singh tweeted.

However, party sources said the controversy could have been avoided.

Read: Bhagwant Mann comes drunk to Parliament, says fellow AAP MP