Oppn reiterates demand for Home Minister's statement on security breach in Parliament

New Delhi [India], December 14 : Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday reiterated the demand for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah in the House on the issue of a security breach in which two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor's gallery.
Thirteen MPs from Parliament were suspended "for creating a ruckus" in the House over their demand for a statement on the breach.
Jairam Ramesh called the incident a serious matter and said that the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Home Minister (Amit Shah) should come to both Houses and give statements and after that, the House will function.
"We had just one demand that the Home Minister come to the House and give a statement (over Lok Sabha security breach). This dictatorial government does not find it acceptable...This is a very serious matter...We wanted a statement from the Home Minister. Unless he comes to the House and does that, there are very slim chances for the House to function," he said.
"We do want discussions but the biggest issue is - how and why did this happen...The Prime Minister and Home Minister are silent. They should come to both Houses and give statements. After that, the House will function," the Congress leader added.
Hitting out at the BJP for being silent on the role of MP Pratap Simha, Jairam Ramesh said, "BJP is silent on the role of its Mysore MP Pratap Simha and is trying to divert attention from it...All opposition parties want the Home Minister to come and give a statement and after that, the House will function."
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Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also demanded a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
"Opposition MPs have been suspended because we want action on this incident of security breach. Is it not the responsibility of the Union Home Minister to come and answer on this? We want action against BJP MP Pratap Simha," she said.
"After what happened yesterday, the INDIA alliance wanted the Union Home Minister to come to the Parliament, give a statement and then a discussion should happen...The government has given no statement...This only proves that the security arrangements in the new Parliament are not good," TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said.
Meanwhile, a total of 13MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the winter session earlier in the day on Thursday.
Earlier, 14 MPs were suspended but later Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "A total of 13 MPs have been suspended from the Lok Sabha. An MP who was not present at the well was also suspended... We requested the Lok Sabha Speaker to drop that name and the Speaker accepted this."
The motion for suspension of MPs was moved after apprising the House of the steps taken in the wake of yesterday's incident of a security breach in which two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor's gallery.
Also, a case has been registered against the accused under multiple relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Parliament Security breach incident, police said on Thursday.
Police sources informed that the the absconding accused in the Parliament security breach case, Lalit Jha also sent a video of the incident to his NGO partner after the four accused committed the act.
So far, four people have been arrested in the case. Police informed that two people, one identified as Vicky and his wife are being interrogated.
The accused identified as Lalit Jha is absconding.
On the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament terror attack, a major security breach occurred when two intruders entered the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor gallery during Zero Hour. In a security breach in Lok Sabha, two men jumped into the House from the visitors' gallery, holding canisters in their hands. They released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.