Who is Pratap Simha — BJP MP Accused Of Issuing Passes To Parliament Intruders

Sagar Sharma’s pass was issued on the reference of journalist turned-MP Pratap Simha.

BJP MP Pratap Simha started his career with the Kannada paper Vijaya Karnataka in 1999.

Source : Instagram/@pratapsimha_mp

New Delhi: Two persons, who jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber on Wednesday in a major security breach, had entered the Parliament on a visitor's pass issued in the name of BJP MP from Mysuru Pratap Simha.

Earlier today, two persons, identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan, jumped down the visitors' gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber and opened canisters that emitted yellow smoke, triggering a security scare as the House was in session.

Around the same time, a man, and a woman also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans 'tanashahi nahi chalegi' outside the Parliament premises.

All four of them have been held by the police and an investigation is underway.

According to PTI, Sagar Sharma’s pass was issued on the reference of journalist turned-MP Pratap Simha.

Who Is Pratap Simha?

Simha, 42, is a two-time MP from the Mysore-Kodagu constituency. He won the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Mysore with 43.46% of votes and the 2019 parliamentary polls with 52.27% vote share.

Born in Karnataka's Sakleshpur, Simha is the former president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, according to Indian Express.

Simha started his career with the Kannada paper Vijaya Karnataka in 1999. His column promoting Hindutva brought him into focus and his two books on Modi that followed paved the way for his entering the BJP fold, reported PTI.

In 2014, Simha wanted to contest from Hassan against former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. But the party fielded him from Mysore where he was initially seen as an outsider.

Intruder sought Parliament pass from Simha for over 3 months

Simha knew one of the accused as he hailed from his constituency Mysuru and he would come to Simha's office very often, according to PTI sources.

Manoranjan D, one of the accused, introduced co-accused Sagar Sharma as a friend to the MP's office and got passes issued to them on the pretext of watching the new Parliament, the PTI report stated.

Three passes were issued at the behest of Simha for Wednesday. However, one person, a woman, had to return as she arrived with her child whose name was not mentioned in her pass, sources close to the MP said.

As per the report, Manoranjan D has been pursuing Simha and his office for the pass for over three months.

Protest Outside Simha's Office

Mysuru Congress workers held a protest in front of Pratap Simha’s office over the security breach incident in Lok Sabha earlier today.

VIDEO | Congress workers hold protest BJP MP Pratap Simha's office in Mysuru following the security breach in the Parliament earlier today. pic.twitter.com/COLNONFz3U

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 13, 2023

Leaders of opposition parties also met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over the incident. According to ANI sources, the Speaker has assured the MPs that the security would be reviewed.