Rahul Gandhi Holds Unemployment and Inflation behind Parliament Security Breach, BJP Termed it “Small Thing”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Even as the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has held unemployment and inflation caused by the caused by the policies of the Narendra Modi government behind the security breach in Parliament earlier this week, the BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Saturday claimed that the opposition was deliberately making “a small thing big” because their intentions were not good.
“There has definitely been a security breach and that’ there, but why did it happen? The biggest issue before the country is unemployment and it’s simmering across the country because of Modi ji’s policies,” Mr Gandhi told reporters at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters after attending a meeting of the political affairs committee on Gujarat on Saturday.
Taking a jibe at Mr Gandhi’s comments, Mr Vijayvargiya said the opposition was making a small thing (parliament security breach) a big issue. “The opposition is making a small thing very big, whereas the bigger thing was that anonymous property worth ₹ 400 crore was found from the house of a Congress MP. No one spoke about it.
“The issue of Parliament security was forcibly made so big that the case (anonymous property issue of Congress MP) could be suppressed,” Mr Vijayvargiya said. “This (security breach) is not such a big issue, Home Minister Amit Shah said it was being investigated. Even after that, if they (Opposition) are creating ruckus in parliament, it means that their intentions are not good,” the BJP leader said.
Shockingly, the ruling party general secretary termed the security breach as “not such a big issue” to attack the opposition even after the party government labelled it as a “grave national issue” to criticise the opposition for “politicising” the security breach.
Subsequently, in a post on X, Mr Gandhi said, “Where are the jobs? The youth are disappointed. We have to focus on this issue and provide jobs to the youth,” he added. His comments come just days after the government accused the Congress and other INDIA partners of politicising “grave national issue.”
Hitting back at the government, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said only the BJP and Home Minister were “politicising” the issue. “The Home Ministry is telling that it is an issue of Parliament under the Speaker. What exactly is Delhi Police telling the court? That it is a terror attack. Delhi police is under the Home Minister, isn’t it?” asked Mr Venugopal.
The Congress leader said those people who keep talking about national security all the time can’t even protect Parliament House. “We didn’t politicise. We didn’t say it’s a terror attack. We only said it’s a serious security breach,” he noted.
Mr Venugopal also said while BJP MP Prathap Simha, who had recommended the passes for the intruders, faced no action, the government was getting Opposition MPs suspended for raising questions. “Now, a major role for the presiding officers is to suspend Opposition members,” he said.
The Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, meanwhile, on Saturday informed the members of the House that he has formed a “high-powered committee” to review various aspects of security in the Parliament complex and formulate an action plan to ensure that the December 13 incident was not repeated.
In a letter to Lok Sabha members, Mr Birla also said the report of the high-level inquiry committee set up by the Union home ministry would “soon” be shared with the House. “In addition, I have also constituted a High Powered Committee which will review various aspects of security in the Parliament Complex and formulate a concrete action plan to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” he said in the letter.
