Security scare? Man tries to jump from Lok Sabha gallery

New Delhi: With Opposition MPs kicking up a quite a din in the Well of the House on Friday, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had just pronounced the first adjournment of the day, when there was a sudden commotion from the visitors’ gallery directly across the Speaker.

A man in a light green sweater had his right leg dangling from the gallery railings even as five to six security men in plainclothes were grabbing him by his upper torso, neck, and hands. The man was trying to shout out something before a burly hand muffled him.

Within seconds before anyone realised what was happening, the man was whisked away by the security staff and led into a restricted area inside the House.

If he had jumped, the man would have possibly landed either on a member or on the narrow passageway. Quite a few key ministers, including finance minister Arun Jaitley, defence minister Manohar Parrikar and transport minister Nitin Gadkari were seated besides Opposition leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shashi Tharoor and others when the incident happened.

An effort to find out more was a futile exercise before guarded and tightlipped Parliament staff. They stonewalled enquiries by saying that the man would be taken to the Parliament Street police station, where he would be interrogated.

When the House reassembled for Zero Hour, the front row seats of the visitors’ gallery were cleared, with only security personnel in plain clothes sitting there, keeping an eye on the visitors.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan identified the man as Rakesh Singh Baghel from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. She said: “Rakesh Singh Baghel, resident of Nizampur, district Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, who was watching the proceedings from the public gallery of Lok Sabha, tried to jump on the floor of the House.”

“The security officials of the Parliament overpowered him and took him into their custody. He may be released on warning after enquiry by parliament security is over”.