The Trinamul MP Shantanu Sen, who caused much uproar in the House after tearing up the statement of Union IT minister on Pegasus spyware, today alleged that the Union civil aviation minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, verbally abused him and allegedly attempted to assault him.
The Parliament today witnessed a rambunctious session as both ruling and Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs clashed over issues such as the Pegasus snooping. The TMC and other Opposition MPs today rushed to the well of the House right when the Union IT minister Vaishnaw was asked to present the government’s statement on the snooping issue.
Just as Vaishnaw was about to make his statement, Sen allegedly snatched it from his hand, tore it into pieces, and flung it in the air. The incident quickly led to a massive uproar in the House with the Speaker having to warn the MPs to maintain the decorum of the House. Deputy Chairman Harivansh later adjourned the Rajya Sabha till 11 am on Friday.
However, the TMC MP Santanu Sen also got into a heated exchange of words with the Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Sen, later in a TMC Press conference, alleged that Puri had threatened him and even went on to allegedly assault him. He said he was lucky that others TMC MPs arrived on time to save him. Trinamul MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy too backed the statements of Sen and added he himself has heard Puri calling out to Sen in a “rude manner”
Meanwhile, the IT minister Vaishnaw placed a copy of the government’s report on the table of the House. He said that a sensational story was published by a web portal on July 18, 2021 which contains “over-the-top allegations” made around this story. He said it cannot be a coincidence that the reports surfaced just a day before the Monsoon Session of the Parliament was about to begin. The MP urged all members of the House to go through the copy of the report.