Parliament breach: Work of 'urban naxals', says BJP blaming Congress-Communist axis

Even as investigations are still on in the Parliament security breach case, senior party leaders believe that the breach in security was a conspiracy against the Union government and the national leadership. This has prompted the BJP leadership to clamp down on the process of issuing passes to visitors.

BL Santhosh, general secretary organisation of the BJP tweeted, “System will be reviewed, overhauled, responsibilities fixed, heads will roll for sure as far as security set up is concerned. But beyond that Parliament incident is again a Toolkit gang activity to show nation in poor light, create unrest, demean leadership. From what is known from public domain these were trained radical activists waiting for an opportunity to create visual effect. Well connected, networked, with support system. The agencies will get to the depth of truth at the earliest.”

'Work of urban naxals'

Senior BJP leaders are of the opinion that while Pratap Simha is likely to be questioned by the investigative agencies on the visitor passes issued on of his recommendation, the BJP parliamentarian was carefully chosen because he has written a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is close to the BJP’s general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh.

BJP members said that Pratap Simha was handpicked to contest from the Lok Sabha constituency of Mysore by Santhosh. Simha has already met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and clarified that he did not personally know any of the accused.

Squarely blaming the breach in security as the handiwork of people linked to “urban naxals”, BJP leadership blamed the Opposition parties, especially Congress and Communist leaders, for the attack inside the Lok Sabha.

“As details emerge, it is getting obvious that DNA of those, who breached Parliament security, is inextricably linked to the Congress-Communist axis. The kinds who were part of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and active participants in the orchestrated protests seen in the past,” said Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP’s Information and Technology Department.

No visitor’s pass to unknown people

The BJP has now also asked its Members of Parliament (MPs) from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha not to issue passes to people who are not known to them personally.

Senior leaders of the party believe that a review of the process of issuing passes to visitors from states and constituencies is important because otherwise there will be no check on the people who get the pass in the name of the Lok Sabha member.

“There is no doubt that there was a security lapse and it was because of this lapse that the accused were able to breach the security of Parliament. It has been decided that the MPs should not recommend the names of people who they do not know personally. The MPs should only give recommendation for visitor’s pass to people who are known to them otherwise it could be misused,” said a senior BJP parliamentarian.

Opposition targets Union govt

This incident has given the Opposition ammunition to target the Union government. The Opposition is now demanding that home minister Amit Shah should take responsibility for the intelligence failure that led to the breach in Parliament security, and he should also make a statement in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha about the ongoing investigation and the findings of the police.

While the Opposition parties have joined forces against the Union government on the issue, senior ministers are of the opinion that there is no need for the home minister to make a statement since Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has already categorically stated that the security of Parliament is the responsibility of the Lok Sabha Secretariat and not the Union government.

“The security lapse is unfortunate. Lok Sabha Speaker will hold discussions as well. The Speaker has also said that the security of the House is the responsibility of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, not the government. Hence, there is no reason for home minister Amit Shah to make a statement on the issue,” said Kaushal Kishore, minister of state (MoS) for ministry of housing and urban affairs.

During the course of the day in Lok Sabha on December 14, senior ministers of the government, including parliamentary affairs ministers, reached out to leaders of the Opposition parties to ask them not to politicise the issue of a security breach of Parliament. Senior leaders of the BJP believe that the Opposition is trying to corner the government on the issue because it is in disarray after the recent losses in the assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.

“It is only fair to say that the current government under Prime Minister Modi has zero tolerance against cases like these and whoever is responsible for the security breach will be punished. The Opposition will definitely make an issue out of this seeing their recent loss in elections,” said Gopal Shetty, a BJP MP.