Bengaluru, Citing "security and discipline", the Karnataka government on Friday banned media persons from filming or photographing the corridors of Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the legislature, as this was coming in the way of VIP movement.

In a circular, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) said Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had signed off on this proposal to ban news cameras from the Vidhana Soudha corridors.

"A provision has been made for the Chief Minister and other ministers to issue media statements near the Kengal Hanumanthaiah entrance (which already exists)," it said.

The DPAR has directed personal secretaries of ministers to make arrangements for press conferences and for news bytes for media persons in meeting rooms or ministerial chambers.

This is not the first time that the Karnataka government has tried to regulate media access in the Vidhana Soudha premises. In the past too, the Congress-JD-S coalition government had also tried to restrict the entry of press persons inside Vidhana Soudha, but it did not take off.