Speaker Guardian Of House, Government Will Follow His Directives: Minister On Security Breach

The government on Thursday all but rejected the opposition's demand for a statement from its top functionary on the Parliament security breach issue, saying the speaker is the guardian of the House and it will follow his directives.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government does not have the authority to issue a statement on the issue as it is the speaker who will take a call in the matter.

"The government follows the directives of the speaker. They (opposition) should refrain from politicising this issue. We are dealing with the matter with great sensitivity," Mr Joshi told reporters.

The treasury benches are not making an issue of what happened when opposition parties like the Congress were in power as the speakers of those times took decisions in their wisdom, he said, asking the parties protesting over the breach to cooperate with the government.

Some opposition members held up placards in the House on Thursday, demanding answers from Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue.

Government functionaries have noted that the security of Parliament falls in the speaker's domain and they have no role in it.

Speaker Om Birla had earlier asserted in the Lok Sabha that the security of the Parliament complex is the responsibility of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

On Wednesday, two people jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, shouted slogans and released a coloured smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.

Mr Birla said everyone is concerned about what happened in the House on Wednesday and asserted that the security of the Parliament complex is the responsibility of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

"It is our jurisdiction," he said and told the opposition members that he is ready to discuss the security breach issue with them again.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)