Congress MP and leader of the party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla over the suspension of the 13 opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the Winter session saying that the members were pressing for an explanation from the government over the Lok Sabha security breach incident.
In the letter addressed to Birla, Chowdhury wrote, “As the Speaker, Lok Sabha, under whose authority and control, the security “of the precincts of Parliament House” rests you have rightly and justly constituted a high level inquiry Committee to cause an in-depth investigation of the brazen, and in a way, bizarre act of breach of security in Parliament House that happened on 13th December, 2023.”
He also urged the speaker to revoke suspension of the opposition MPs as they were demanding an explanation from the centre and expect corrective measures to be taken urgently.
“Since the seriousness of the matter lies in this fact, which relates to our own security, Members of the Opposition are duty bound to demand an explanation from the Government and expect corrective measures to be taken urgently. Considering the fact that the Members who have been suspended on account of “unruly conduct” were pressing for an explanation from the Government on very troubling issues, to me, it appears to be appropriate to hear them on their concerns and points of view. Considering the factors that led to the suspension of 13 members in the recent days, I would urge that the matter be re-looked into holistically and appropriate action taken for revoking the suspension and restoring order in the House”, he wrote further.
In his letter he also mentioned Sonia Gandhi calling on the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then home minister Lal Krishna Advani during the 2001 Parliament terror attack.
“It may be recalled that when the dastardly incident of 13th December, 2001 happened, it was Smt. Sonia Gandhi, then President of Indian National Congress who was the first to call on the then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister Shri Lal Krishna Advani to enquire about their well-being. In the present instance too, it is appropriate for the Home Minister to make a Statement in the House on the incident,” he wrote.
He also urged the Speaker to investigate and take appropriate action in the Lok Sabha security breach incident.
“There is an urgent need to not only to investigate and take corrective action in regard to the security apparatus of the Parliament House Estate, but the factors that led that the youth to indulge in such a brazen act and put themselves, their families and friends into a situation of misery also need to be looked into”, he wrote.
“I sincerely trust that my letter will be taken in right earnest and all sections are given a fair hearing. Maintaining the dignity and decorum of our Democratic institutions is a common endeavor in all sections of the House,” he added.
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a resolution to suspend 13 members for the remainder of the winter session of the parliament for disregarding the chair’s direction and disrupting the house proceedings.
Earlier, five Congress Lok Sabha members were suspended from the Lok Sabha. Shortly after, nine more opposition MPs were suspended from the Lower House for the same period for “unruly conduct”.
The suspended MPs are Benny Behanan, VK Sreekandan, Mohammad Jawed, PR Natarajan, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, K Subbarayan, S Venkatesan, Manickam Tagore, Dean Kuriakose, Hibi Eden, TN Prathapan, Jothimani Sennimalai, and, Ramya Haridas.
Meanwhile, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for “unruly” conduct in the upper house of the parliament.
The Opposition was raising a chorus for a statement by home minister Amit Shah in the wake of Wednesday’s security breach in which two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor’s gallery and set off smoke cans.
With inputs from ANI
