The Indian Express inside Parliament | As smoke filled LS, an MP shouted in panic: ‘Poisonous gas’

Minutes earlier, at 1.01 pm, two men who were seated in the Lok Sabha’s visitors’ gallery in the new state-of-the-art Parliament building, had jumped on to the last row of tables, then on to the floor, before running towards the Speaker’s chair. Pulling out canisters wrapped in paper napkins from their sports shoes, they had yanked the cans open, leaving the House in a haze of yellow. Some MPs stood stupefied, others displayed a rare agility as they darted across desks to capture the two men. Senior BJP leader Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, hastily adjourned the proceedings.

Congress MPs Karti P Chidambaram and Gaurav Gogoi, followed by Rahul Gandhi, along with a few other Opposition MPs, were walking out of the chamber. I stopped Gogoi to ask him what the woman MP was talking about and he calmly confirmed the incident. A few metres behind where Gogoi stood, I could see the mist of yellow smoke.

Karti Chidambaram was agitated. “Zero Hour was on and I was waiting for my turn to speak when the incident happened. There was yellow smoke everywhere… It could have been toxic and lethal. Around 100 MPs must have inhaled that gas,” he said.

From left: Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Neelam Azad, Amol Shinde

Pointing to the security breach, he added, “Two people can come into Parliament, go through the admission process to get a pass, come to the visitors’ gallery — which need an MP’s signature, a valid ID — and you are able to go through all the barriers with two canisters that can emit gas. It’s a very, very serious security breach. The Speaker must get to the bottom of this.”

Soon, more people gathered around the MPs. Gandhi, who was shaking hands with a few visitors, looked unfazed as he said, “Yes, there were some protesters… They jumped from the gallery.” He soon walked away.

Among those who came down from the first-floor galleries was a mother-son duo from Kerala who were seated in the same enclosure as the protesters. I pulled them aside for a quick interview. “The West Bengal MP (BJP’s Khagen Murmu) was speaking,when I saw a bhaiyya jumping down. Then another bhaiyya jumped. I thought the first guy had fallen down and the other had jumped to help him,” the teenager said.

A couple of security officers brusquely intervened and stopped the boy from revealing more details of the incident.

By then, the premises then descended into chaos. Outside the main Makar Dwar gate, a group of ruling party MPs stood around, angrily enquiring about the protesters. “Whose visitors were they,” asked one. When it was revealed that the passes were issued at the behest of BJP’s Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, the MPs shook their heads, whispering among themselves. “How could he be this irresponsible,” said a senior MP.

The incident seemed to have given the Opposition MPs, on the backfoot after a bruising defeat in the recent Assembly elections, a new sense of vigour as they questioned the “security lapse” and pointed to the “gravity of the situation”. While most BJP MPs maintained a stoic silence, some expressed relief that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were not on the premises.

Almost an hour later, as it became clear that there was no terror attack as many feared initially, the anxiety gave way to excitement with many Opposition MPs narrating the incident to media personnel outside.

BSP MP Ram Shiromani Verma, who spoke to The Indian Express, said, “I was among those who ran to catch him. I saw him taking off his shoe and I thought he was going to throw it at us. Instead, he pulled out something and the chamber was filled with smoke. He was beaten up and taken away by the security guards.”

By then, the premises was swarming with security personnel. With the Speaker ordering the cancellation of all visitor passes, the entire area was cordoned off.

The storm has subsided, but its ramifications will be felt for long after. I was in Lok Sabha in 2014, when Congress MP L Rajagopal pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed it inside the chamber in protest against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Soon after this incident, reporters covering Parliament were asked to deposit perfume and spray bottles before entering the House.

What next?

⚡ Best of Express: Read our full coverage of the Parliament security breach

👉🏽 On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, a massive security breach took place in Lok Sabha, when two intruders leapt into the chamber from the visitors gallery and opened smoke cans. Meanwhile, outside the Parliament, two others were arrested for protesting with coloured smoke.

👉🏽 But how did they manage to dodge layers of security inside the Parliament House? We explain. 

👉🏽 Since the incident, the entry of visitors in the House has now been suspended. As one would expect, jumping into the chamber of the House is not permitted under the Rules of the House. What do the rules say? Read our report. 

👉🏽 Turns out, just a day before the security breach, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) floated a tender for additional security infrastructure, including gadgets and bulletproof barriers, for the Parliament complex. We break down the CPWD’s proposed project.

👉🏽 “I was at a vantage point, right outside the chamber from where more MPs rushed out – some anxious, the others agitated.” The Indian Express’ Deputy Editor Liz Mathew witnessed Wednesday’s intrusion from the media gallery of the Parliament. She recounts what happened.