New Delhi: Several opposition parliamentarians staged a protest in front of the Gandhi Statue on Parliament premises on Friday, demanding action against BJP MP Pratap Simha in connection with the security breach incident.
Opposition members were holding placards with "Nation wants to know why no action against BJP MP Simha" written on them. "Why PM and HM are silent" and "Democracy under siege" read other placards.
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, suspended Congress MP Manickam Tagore, and several other opposition parliamentarians were present during the protest.
MP Simha faces opposition scrutiny over allegations of providing Parliament passes to individuals responsible for triggering panic in the Lok Sabha with smoke canisters.
Earlier, 14 MPs were suspended on Thursday. but later, Pralhad Joshi clarified that one member was mistakenly included in the list of MPs suspended.
Following his clarification, a formal request was made to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to exclude one member, who wasn't present at the Well of the Lower House during the disruption, from the list of suspended MPs.
The number of suspended lawmakers was, thus, revised to 13 from 14 Lok Sabha MPs as was erroneously mentioned earlier.
The motion for suspension of nine opposition MPs--Benny Behanan, VK Sreekandan, Mohammad Jawed, PR Natarajan, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, K Subrahmanyam, SR Parthiban, S Venkatesan and Manickam Tagore--was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.
Oppositon members are protesting over the Parliament security breach incident and have demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile, Delhi's Patiala House Court on Thursday granted seven days of custodial remand to all four accused persons arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach matter.
The fifth accused, Lalit Jha, was also arrested by Delhi Police on Thursday. (ANI)
