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Advani made a statement after 2001 attack: Chidambaram's swipe at Amit Shah
The Congress leader has urged home minister Amit Shah to address Parliament on the security breach.
The Congress on Friday hit out at the Union home minister Amit Shah over speaking to TV channels on the Parliament security breach incident and not in Parliament amid the ongoing winter session, saying that it is unacceptable and the minister should come to Parliament and make a statement.
Congress leader and former home minister P Chidambaram in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said, “After the terrible attack on Parliament on 13th December 2001, Home Minister L K Advani made a statement in Parliament. That is the right precedent. It is the home minister who should make a statement in Parliament on behalf of the government.”
The Congress leader has urged Shah to address Parliament on the security breach. "The Hon'ble Home Minister speaks through the media to the Members of Parliament. This is unacceptable. He should come before Parliament and make a statement," Chidambaram said.
Party's general secretary Jairam Ramesh has accused the BJP-led central government of trying to divert the attention from the real issues and wondered why Shah was not willing to make a statement in the house.
"If the Home Minister can speak to TV channels at length when Parliament is in session, why does he not deem it fit and appropriate (to speak in Parliament)."
Congress has also accused the minister of "contempt of Parliament" and said that both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are unlikely to function till he makes a statement on the incident.
"In fact, this is a contempt of Parliament. It is a contempt of Parliamentary traditions. Ministers never make such great statements on serious issues when Parliament is in session, outside Parliament. They take Parliament into confidence," Ramesh said.
"The INDIA bloc parties are united (over the demand) that the first requirement to keep both Houses running is a statement by the home minister," he further said, indicating that the opposition would cause uproar in both Houses on Monday, demanding a statement from Shah.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary proceedings in both the houses are repeatedly disrupted because of the opposition MPs protest while demanding the statement from Shah over the major security lapse.
On Thursday 14 opposition MPs including TMC's Derek O'Brien and DMK's Kanimozhi Karunanidhi were suspended for the remainder of the winter session of the Parliament for disregarding the chair's direction.
In a major security breach, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor's gallery, shouted slogans and set off a smoke canister on Wednesday, the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 parliament attacks. On December 13 that year, five terrorists belonging to Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad had attacked the old parliament building.
