BJP IT Cell Trying To Divert Attention From Parl Security Breach: Cong

On Thursday, the Congress accused the BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya of trying to divert attention from the security breach in Parliament and said the intruders were given access to the House by a BJP MP.

This was said by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh after Malviya shared some pictures in which a woman arrested in connection with the incident on Wednesday is seen purportedly campaigning for the Congress.

Ramesh said, in a post on ‘X’, “BJP IT Cell desperately wants to divert attention from 2 facts: 1. There was a very serious breach in the security of Parliament. 2. The intruders who breached Lok Sabha security in a shocking manner had been given access to the Parliament by Pratap Simha, BJP MP from Mysuru.”

Earlier, sharing the pictures on ‘X’, Malviya had said, “Regime change is a phrase Congress leaders often use. Meet Neelam Azad, the lady who breached Parliament’s security today. She is an active Congress/I.N.D.I Alliance supporter. She is an Andolanjeevi, who has been seen at several protests.”

The BJP leader added, “Question is who sent them? Why did they pick someone from Mysore to obtain Parliament pass from a BJP MP… Remember the Opposition will stop at nothing, not even defiling the Parliament, highest institution of our democracy.”

Malviya, in a separate post tagging a video of the father of Manoranjan — another accused in the Parliament security breach incident — said, “Was Manoranjan active with Congress and/or SFI sponsored movements? Did he attend Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra?” He added, “The last word on this is not out yet. But one thing is clear: the Opposition defiled Parliament on 13th Dec with a purpose.”

On the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack — two persons named Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma — jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.

Two other accused — Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi, around the same time, also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside Parliament premises.

Neelam, Amol, Sagar and Manoranjan are now in police custody. Their accomplice Vishal, in whose house the accused stayed before reaching Parliament, has been detained from Gurugram. Meanwhile, a hunt is on for their other accomplice Lalit.

On 13 December 2001, five militants drove into the House of Parliament in a car with Home Ministry and Parliament labels. While both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had been adjourned 40 minutes prior to the incident, many members of parliament (MPs) and government officials such as Home Minister LK Advani and Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak were believed to have still been in the building at the time of the attack.

More than 100 people, including major politicians, were inside the parliament building at the time. The gunmen used a fake identity sticker on the car they drove and thus easily breached the security deployed around the parliamentary complex. The militants carried AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers, pistols and grenades.

The gunmen drove their vehicle into the car of the Indian Vice President Krishan Kant (who was in the building at the time), got out, and began shooting. The Vice President’s guards and security personnel shot back at the attackers and then started closing the gates of the compound. A similar attack was carried out on the assembly of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, in November 2001, killing 38 people.