After the major security breach in the Lok Sabha, in which two men carrying smoke canisters jumped into the chamber of the House from the visitors’ gallery, BSP MP Danish Ali told NDTV that at least one of the passes recovered after the attack had been issued by BJP MP Pratap Simha’s office.
Sources have also confirmed to NDTV that both men who jumped into the chamber were given visitors’ passes by Mr Simha.
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.
Pratap Simha is an MP from Mysore in Karnataka and, according to the police, at least one of the men who jumped into the chamber is linked to his constituency. Manoranjan D, 35, is a Bachelor of Engineering graduate from Mysore Vivekanand University in Bengaluru and his father stays in Mysore’s Vijaynagar.
Mr Simha had 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.
Around 1 pm today, Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the chamber of the Lok Sabha. Footage showed Sagar jumping over desks and heading towards the Speaker’s chair, while Manoranjan sprayed yellowish smoke from one of the canisters.
A man and a woman, identified as Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi, were also detained outside Parliament with coloured smoke canisters.
