NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has sought a report on the "security breach" in Parliament on Thursday when an armed Special Protection Group personnel attached to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra's family accompanied them into the Speaker's Gallery.

Mr. Chatterjee disclosed this in the House as Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) members sought to raise the issue amid protests from the Congress members. Prabhunath Singh (JD-U) gave an adjournment notice.

An effort was made by the BJP to raise the issue in the Rajya Sabha also, but Deputy Chairman K. Rehman Khan did not allow it.

Jurisdiction of Speaker

While Mr. Chatterjee allowed the matter to be raised only after question hour, he reminded the members that matters pertaining to the security of Parliament House were entirely in the jurisdiction of the Speaker.

He said the report would be shared with party leaders at a meeting, which he planned to call for the purpose.

Firing the first salvo, Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP) said a "major security breach" had taken place despite the Rs. 200-crore security set-up, which was put in place a couple of years ago. Even security personnel attached to members were not allowed to bring their weapons in. The law should be the same for all.

Much of what Mr. Prabhunath Singh said was struck off the records or lost in the din that followed as the Congress members protested the personalised attack.

With the crossfire lasting several minutes, Mr. Chatterjee urged members not to politicise the issue.

While Ms. Gandhi was not present through the heated exchanges, her son Rahul Gandhi quietly left midway to return a while later when proceedings were back on rail.

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