BJP MP Pratap Simha explains why his office issued passes to parliament breach accused

mangaloretoday.com/ndtv

New Delhi, Dec 14, 2023: BJP MP Pratap Simha, under scrutiny for providing Parliament passes to the two accused responsible for causing chaos in the Lok Sabha with gas canisters, met Speaker Om Birla and offered an explanation, sources said. Briefing the speaker, the Mysore MP said that the father of one of the accused approached him for a visitor’s pass.

 

The father reportedly told Mr Simha that his son wanted to tour the new Parliament building. Sources said that the accused, Sagar Sharma, remained in constant communication with Mr Simha’s personal assistant (PA) and office regarding the visitor’s pass.

The Lok Sabha MP conveyed to the Lok Sabha Speaker that he possessed no additional information beyond what he had already stated.

Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped from the visitor’s gallery to the House yesterday. They managed to release yellow smoke from aerosol canisters before they were caught by some of the parliamentarians.

While those two were causing panic inside the Lok Sabha, two other protesters - a man and a woman - were caught releasing coloured smoke on a road outside the Parliament.

During questioning, the four accused told cops that they were concerned about issues like unemployment and Manipur violence. They said that they wanted to catch the attention of the parliamentarians and start a debate on the issues.

Expressing shock at the breach, several Members of Parliament said visitors have to clear five levels of security before entering the complex and that signatures from the office of an MP are needed for a pass to the visitors’ gallery. The breach took place 22 years after the attack on Parliament in 2001.

Opposition has trained their guns on Mr Simha and is claiming that a thorough security check wasn’t done by the MP before issuing the passes.

Pratap Simha won from the Mysore constituency with 43.46% of votes in 2014 and increased his vote share to 52.27% in the 2019 elections. The 42-year-old is a former journalist and is well-known for a series of columns. He also wrote a biography of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2007.

The son of a farmer, the MP had earlier said that he idolises PM Modi.