A group of Opposition parliamentarians on Friday staged a protest at the Gandhi Statue within the Parliament premises, fervently calling for action against BJP MP Pratap Simha in light of a security breach incident.
Clutching placards emblazoned with messages such as "Nation wants to know why no action against BJP MP Simha," the demonstrators questioned the conspicuous silence of the Prime Minister and Home Minister, while others decried the state of democracy with signs declaring "Why PM and HM are silent" and "Democracy under siege."
Prominent figures at the protest included Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, the suspended Congress MP Manickam Tagore, and various other opposition parliamentarians.
Simha faces intense scrutiny for allegedly providing Parliament passes to individuals who triggered panic in the Lok Sabha using smoke canisters.
The political landscape experienced a tumultuous Thursday as 14 MPs were initially suspended, only for Pralhad Joshi to rectify the error by clarifying that one member was mistakenly included in the list. A formal request was then made to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to exclude the absent member from the list of suspended MPs, revising the count to 13.
The motion for suspension, initiated by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, targeted nine opposition MPs, namely Benny Behanan, VK Sreekandan, Mohammad Jawed, PR Natarajan, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, K Subrahmanyam, SR Parthiban, S Venkatesan, and Manickam Tagore. Their suspension prompted vehement protests, with opposition members insisting that Home Minister Amit Shah deliver a statement in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha regarding the Parliament security breach incident.
Simultaneously, on Thursday, Delhi's Patiala House Court granted seven days of custodial remand to all four accused persons apprehended in connection with the Parliament security breach.
Adding to the developments, the Delhi Police arrested the fifth accused, Lalit Jha, on the same day.
