Derek O’ Brien member of the Rajya Sabha for the Trinamool Congress, has been suspended from the remainder of the winter session of parliament for his actions on Thursday morning, specifically for “gross misconduct” and “defying the Chair.” The winter session will continue through December 22. A motion to suspend the Trinamool member has been approved by the Upper House of Parliament. In response to the security breach incident, where two men leaped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha and burst yellow smoke canisters, O’Brien had demanded a discussion. Soon after, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar named the Trinamool MP and requested that he leave the House.
In spite of the Chair’s warning, O’Brien and a few other opposition members persisted in their protest and asked that Union Home Minister Amit Shah appear in the House to answer for the security breach incident that occurred yesterday. While addressing the media outside of Parliament, Trinamool MP Dola Sen also called for the prosecution of BJP MP Pratap Simha, who she claimed had assisted the accused Manoranjan in obtaining a Parliament visitor pass.
“Why is the Ethics committee is quiet on this? Pratap Simha who is a BJP MP, why is he not being expelled. We seriously want to know if the security of parliamentarians is compromised then what will happen to the people of the county? Home minister did not even give statement on this. TMC needs a proper investigation” Dola Sen said.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha secretariat suspended eight security personnel on Thursday over security lapses that led to a major security breach in Parliament on Wednesday.