Parliament gate: Spurt in DD Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha viewership

Humor Unplugged has learnt that the viewership of Doordarshan’s twin channels on Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has risen steadily over the last few months, prompting government to launch a comprehensive inquiry. The inquiry team has concluded that the rising viewership was owing to suspicious elements viewing parliamentary proceedings from locations such as Dubai. The team had placed on record its concern over the rising viewership attributable to segments not directly or indirectly connected to the Indian parliament. 

Humor Unplugged had earlier in the day exposed the story of Indian parliamentarians accepting money from bookies to ‘fix’ parliamentary sessions. It seems that bookies are increasingly viewing the live parliamentary sessions shown on the twin DD channels to confirm that the proceeding were going as per their original plan. This means that these channels were turning into pawns in the hands of bookies and twisted members of parliament, who were taking the nation for a costly ride. 


“The government was shocked to learn that the viewership of DD Lok Sabha had jumped from 24 to 145 in just 3 weeks. We were not even broadcasting any interesting content in this time frame and the whole thing seemed like there was something more that meets the eye. After getting the numbers independently verified, we launched an investigation and found out that people in Dubai were watching our programmes. We just made a note of all our suspicions and submitted the same to the government.  That was the last I heard of the whole affair till Humor Unplugged came out with the front page story on MPs rigging parliamentary sessions. That is when I put two and two together and now I know there is a definite connection between the two,” said Chavvani Lal, head of the committee established to investigate the surge in viewership.

The government has meanwhile placed a temporary ban on the telecast of the twin DD channels and asked Doordarshan to conduct its own inquiry. The move has met with stiff resistance from the Indian Association of Sleepless (IAS) a body representing the interests of the sleep deprived insomniacs in the country. IAS chairman says “It was one of the cheapest ways of getting a good sleep. I infact pay my cablewalla Rs 100 more every month to ensure that these two channels are part of my core package. Alas, I and others like me will have to look at alternatives now”.  

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