Bhagwant Mann video stunt offers AAP's enemies ammo for Punjab polls

As a stand up comedian Bhagwant Mann for long made people laugh at his sharp one liners, witty jokes, sarcasm and humorous acts. In fact his comedy earned him a berth in Parliament from Sangrur, Punjab in 2014.

But today his “serious” act of posting an 11-minute long video, a walk-through from his home to passing through various security barriers and gates of Parliament to going inside the premises, on his Facebook page as an MP has made his parliamentary peers and security agencies very angry at him. He even runs the risk of losing his coveted Member of Parliament position.

His action rocked proceedings of both Houses of Parliament. Members cutting across the party lines condemned his action even demanding his immediate suspension and stern action thereafter. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s admission of the seriousness of the matter and assurance of an action against him after examining the facts did not cut any ice with agitating members.

The issue came to such a pass that Parliament had to be adjourned for the day, to meet on Monday at 11 am.

Mann’s action has inadvertently achieved what was generally inconceivable, display of a rare unanimity of thought and action among BJP, Siromani Akali Dal and Congress. The AAP stood completely isolated in Lok Sabha and in Rajya Sabha, the AAP in any case does not have any representation till now.

There are two ways to look at it – politics and security. For now two have combined. There is no denying the fact that the outrage of the MPs from most political parties also have something to do with the coming elections in Punjab. Mann is an AAP MP from Sangrur in Punjab, who in last parliamentary elections defied the Modi wave to get elected. AAP is now widely perceived to be a rising force in Punjab.

It is no brainer that BJP, SAD and Congress united to target AAP, to suggest that immaturity of the party leaders who claim to be an alternate political power in sensitive border state of Punjab. Security has always remained a critical issue in the state. Lately AAP leaders, parachuted from Delhi and other parts of India have shown that they have little idea of the social and cultural ethos of the state. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal performed a dramatic seva at the Golden Temple to atone for the mistakes committed by his party leaders, albeit by cleaning already cleaned plates.

The central message, which emanates from the MPs’ outrage against Mann and AAP, is that how can you trust a party and its leaders for Punjab who let the world know about critical aspects of Parliament security, who are out exposing what was considered a confidential security details of the “temple of democracy”.

The matter is likely to rage over in the coming days as well. The proceedings of the Ethics Committee, Privilege Committee or a special committee set up by the Speaker will keep the issue alive and action taken thereafter against Mann will have its own political ramifications. AAP will surely play a victim card and make it a huge political issue. The BJP-SAD and Congress will not lag behind in counter response. Usually strong statements made by Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and BJP’s RK Singh is a pointer to that effect.

But Punjab poll politics apart, there are serious security issues to suggest that Mann committed such a grave offence. The anger of MPs was not restricted to BJP-SAD and Congress. All political parties, related or unrelated to Punjab, had strong objections to Mann’s action and there was a near unanimity in both Houses in proposing action against him.

For instance, there was merit in what Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab had to say. More so, because Mahtab and his party could be taken as a neutral voice which otherwise has nothing against either Mann and AAP. He said it was not ignorance and foolishness but it is obduracy. It is not just a matter of ethical conduct and privilege but involves much larger issues of Parliament’s security which faced an attack in 2001. He suggested that the matter instead of being referred to Ethics or Privileges Committee of Parliament, a special committee should be constituted to look into it as to what action should be taken against Mann. The members were particularly angry because Mann was not sounding repentant and was brazen enough to say he would do it again.

The thrust of Mahtab’s argument was that on 13 December 2001, Parliament was attacked by terrorists and 13 people lost their lives. Only reason why the terrorists could not succeed in their design was because once inside the Parliament they had lost their way, giving time to security personnel to react. Mann has outlined the exact route and security map, as also the main doors and inside gates.

Consider what had happened on 13 December 2001 terror attack. The terrorists had entered from same gate inside Parliament bearing a fake home ministry sticker on their car but once they breached that security cordon at the gate, they didn’t know what way to take to the main entry inside the Parliament premises. They drove to the other gate through which Rajya Sabha members generally enter and their car moved in the wrong direction finding a blockade ahead of the gate through which the Vice President enters. The action had alerted Vice President’s security personnel and as also the watch and ward staff. The attack was eventually foiled, because the security personnel got those critical few minutes (on account of path loss by terrorists) to pull their act together.

Parliament House security since then has been considerably beefed up.

Various new layers of security barricades and personnel have come in place, both outside of Parliament House and inside.

What Mann did in his video was to pass through that same gate, which is now open only for MPs and top visiting dignitaries. No cameras are allowed there. No one is allowed to shoot the security paraphernalia and drill there. Mann’s video also has his narration, from where to take a turn at Vijay Chowk, what kind of security to be expected next, what kind of gadgets installed at security gates, the sensor pass for his car, automated gates and exact point to disembark and so on. “Today I’ll show you something you have never seen before,” he says.

In his defence, Mann said, “My people accuse me of not raising their issues in the House. When I told them that questions to be taken up are decided by a draw of lots and only 20 MPs can get their questions in, they did not believe me.” But then if that was the case Mann should have narrated only the part where Question or Zero Hour selection process was done.

Mann has since then apologised to the Speaker. But much to his and AAP’s discomfiture, the issue has now gone beyond that.