BJP MP Pratap Simha, whose office allegedly issued passes to the accused involved in the major security breach in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, has met Parliamentary Minister Pralhad Joshi, and clarified his stand on the issue, sources told news18.
On the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attacks today, two men carrying smoke canisters jumped into the chamber of Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery at around 1 pm. One of the accused sprayed yellowish smoke from a canister, disrupting the disrupted proceedings of the House.
After the security breach, BSP MP Danish Ali said that the visitor’s pass recovered from one of the accused after the attack had been issued by BJP MP Pratap Simha’s office.
In a chilling reminder to the Parliament attack 21 years back on the same day (Dec 13), a man jumped from visitors’ gallery into Lok Sabha MPs area. The breach could’ve put lives of MPs in danger. It has exposed chinks in the 56inch armour. The man was a guest of @BJP4India MP. pic.twitter.com/qhPX4C4Dia— Kunwar Danish Ali (@KDanishAli) December 13, 2023
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also accused Mysore MP Simha of issuing passes to the attackers.
“BJP MP Pratap Simha should be questioned. Those who breached security might be known to him. If he didn’t know them, how did he give them the passes? Any tragedy that might occur due to irresponsibility is a punishable offence,” Siddaramaiah said.
According to the police, at least one of the men who jumped into the chamber is linked to Simha’s constituency.
Who Is BJP MP Pratap Simha?
The son of a farmer, 42-year-old Simha is a two-time MP from the Mysore constituency. He won the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Mysore with 43.46% of votes and the 2019 parliamentary polls with 52.27% vote share.
He is a former journalist and also wrote a biography of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2007.
Born in Karnataka’s Sakleshpur to the late BE Gopal Gowda, Simha was chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Youth Wing earlier. The BJP leader is known for sharp and critical Hindutva politics.
Protest Outside Simha’s Office
Mysuru Congress workers staged a protest in front of the Pratap Sinha’s office over the security breach incident in Lok Sabha. Later, they were detained by the Police.
Attack On Parliament
The two accused — Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma — were seated in the visitors’ gallery before they took out canisters from their shoes and jumped towards the desk where Members of Parliament were seated during the session. Footage from the Lok Sabha showed Sagar heading towards the Speaker’s chair, while Manoranjan sprayed yellowish smoke from one of the canisters.
Another man and a woman–25-year-old Amol Shinde from Maharashtra and a 42-year-old woman named Neelam from Hisar in Haryana — were also detained from outside Parliament with coloured smoke canisters.
‘Accused Sought Pass From Simha for Over 3 Months’
BJP MP Pratap Simha, on whose authorisation passes were issued to two persons who jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber on Wednesday in a major security breach, knew one of the accused as he hailed from his constituency Mysuru and he would come to Simha’s office very often, sources said.
Manoranjan D, one of the accused, introduced co-accused Sagar Sharma as a friend to the MP’s office and got passes issued to them on the pretext of watching the new Parliament, according to sources.
Three passes were issued at the behest of Simha for Wednesday. However, one person, a woman, had to return as she arrived with her child whose name was not mentioned in her pass, sources close to the MP said.
