The Congress party on Friday alleged that personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a paramilitary force, were rushed into the Rajya Sabha well during an Opposition protest, calling it an astonishing and shocking development.
In a letter to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the incident as “most objectionable” and urged him to ensure that such personnel do not enter the House when the Opposition raises issues of public concern.
“We are astonished and shocked at the manner in which CISF personnel are made to run into the well of the House when the Members are exercising their democratic right of protest. We saw this yesterday and we saw this today as well. Has our Parliament being reduced to such a level? This is most objectionable and we condemn it unequivocally,” Kharge’s letter read.
It added, “We expect that in future CISF personnel will not come trooping in the well of the House when Members are raising important issues of public concern”.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described the CISF’s actions as a “takeover” by the security force following Jagdeep Dhankhar’s sudden resignation, calling it a shocking development.
“After the sudden and unprecedented resignation of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, we are now seeing the takeover of the chamber of the Council of States by the personnel of the CISF. The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has just written to the Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha on this shocking development,” Ramesh tweeted, sharing a copy of the letter.
However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed the Congress’s allegations of muzzling Opposition protests, asserting that no one was stopped and that the Rajya Sabha has stringent security arrangements in place.
“There are stringent security arrangements in the Rajya Sabha as well. No parliamentarian has been stopped from speaking. We have been briefed by the CISF, and we’ve been informed that if anyone crosses the designated boundary in the Rajya Sabha, appropriate action will be taken,” the minister said.
The government handed over the ‘comprehensive’ security of Parliament to the CISF in December 2023, following a security breach in which two individuals jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters, and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.