Parliament Security Breach | ‘Smoke was harmless… not a cause of worry; probe on’: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “On December 13, 2001, our old Parliament was attacked. Today was the anniversary… we had all gathered in the morning to pay tributes to the martyered. Today, coincidentally there has been another attack on Parliament. I agree that the two attacks are different in nature. The question is how did the attack take place on the anniversary? Does this prove that we were not as cautious as we should have been? All our MPs caught them (intruders)… where were the security personnel?”

TMC’s Sudip Bandhopadhyay said “we should be more cautious”. “At the entry gate, hundereds of people stand when the MPs enter. these people stay  from 11 am to 6 pm, taking photos. No one can guess who is MP, who is not.

Noting the MPs’ concerns, Birla said, “I understand all of your concerns. We will all sit together shortly and discuss. We will take your suggestions into consideration on how we can make better arrangements in the House… we will discuss what precautions we should take while making the visitor passes. No matter what the circumstances, our responsibility is to keep the House running.”