Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Fifteen Members of Parliament (MPs) were on Thursday suspended for unruly behavior and disrupting proceedings in their respective Houses for the remainder of the Winter Session, over Wednesday’s incident of a major security breach when two youths were arrested inside the Lok Sabha and two outside the new building of Parliament after they triggered panic and released smoke.
Seven Lok Sabha staff have also been suspended following the breach.
Of the 15 suspended MPs, 14 are from the Lok Sabha: nine from the Congress, two from the CPM, one from the CPI, and two from the DMK. One Trinamool Congress MP, Derek O’Brien, was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remaining sittings of the Winter Session.
However, despite suspension, he refused to leave the House. The matter has been sent to the House’s Privileges Committee after a motion tabled by the Leader of the Rajya Sabha and Union Minister Piyush Goyal.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal called the suspension a “horrible, undemocratic move.”
Earlier in the day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi moved a resolution to suspend five Congress MPs – TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden, Jothimani, Ramya Haridas, and Dean Kuriakose – for the rest of the session.
A day after a massive security lapse, Parliament resumed its sitting today, only to face the chaos its members created, and forced adjournments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were not present in Parliament on Wednesday as they were attending the swearing-in ceremonies of the BJP’s two new chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
In the Wednesday chaos, at least six people were involved in the security scare inside and outside Parliament. Two men popped smoke canisters inside the Lower House, while a man and a woman burst them outside. All four have been arrested, as have a man and his wife for sheltering them at their Gurgaon home.
The four main accused were Sagar Sharma, D Manoranjan, Neelam Devi, and Amol Shinde, while the Gurgaon man was identified as Vicky Sharma. A sixth man, Lalit Jha, is on the run.
The four who burst smoke canisters have been charged under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in addition to relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code. The six currently in custody, including the wife of Vicky Sharma, are being interrogated by Delhi Police’s anti-terror cell.
Meanwhile, the unprecedented panic prompted authorities to tighten security measures in the new Parliament. They temporarily banned visitors and restricted non-essential personnel, including the media. A high-level inquiry has also been instituted.
The Opposition is up in arms over the incident and demanded a probe into BJP MP Prathap Simha’s conduct since the visitors’ passes were issued to the intruders after a request from his office.
The Wednesday security breach coincided with the 22nd anniversary of the terror strike on the Old Parliament building on December 13, 2001, in which two Pakistan-based groups attacked and killed nine people, including eight security staff.