NEW DELHI, Dec 19: The acrimonious face-off between the opposition and ruling NDA over alleged insult to B R Ambedkar took an unprecedented ugly turn in Parliament premises on Thursday with claims of pushing and shoving involving MPs, leaving two BJP members hospitalised and a woman BJP MP accusing Rahul Gandhi of “misbehaving” with her.
The BJP charged the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha with pushing an MP that led to injuries to two of its lawmakers, but Gandhi denied it and said it was he who was pushed by a ruling party member while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also accused protesting BJP members of shoving him and injuring his knees.
Both sides lodged complaints at Parliament Street police station, blaming each other for what must have been a sordid incident without parallel involving MPs within the premises of Parliament. They also complained to the respective Chair in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha against each other.
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BJP MPs Mukesh Rajput and Pratap Chandra Sarangi sustained injuries and were admitted to the RML hospital, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking to them over the phone to enquire about their health.
The hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Ajay Shukla said they had sustained head injuries.
“We have filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi for physical assault and incitement,” BJP MP Anurag Thakur told mediapersons outside the police station.
A number of MPs of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance were protesting at the steps of Parliament’s ‘Makar Dwar’, an entrance and exit reserved for lawmakers, against the Congress’ alleged insult of Ambedkar, while MPs from the Congress and its allies were demonstrating over Union home minister Amit Shah’s remarks on Ambedkar and accused the BJP of slighting the architect of the Constitution.
BJP MPs claimed that Gandhi tried to push his way inside Parliament through the middle of the stairs where they were standing, ignoring a side passage, and caused injuries in the ensuing jostling. However, some opposition MPs claimed that the BJP members refused to give way to Gandhi who was heading to the Lok Sabha to attend the House proceedings.
Rejecting the BJP members’ charge, Gandhi told reporters, “I was trying to enter Parliament and the BJP MPs were stopping me, pushing me and threatening me.”
The incident happened some minutes before both Houses were to convene at 11 am.
The 69-year-old Sarangi, a BJP member from Balasore in Odisha and a former minister, suffered injuries on the left temple. BJP member Nishikant Dubey accused Gandhi of pushing the senior leader.
“Are you not ashamed Rahul, you are resorting to rowdy behaviour (‘gundagardi’). You pushed an old man,” a furious Dubey told Gandhi.
“He pushed me,” Gandhi countered Dubey, walking off after having a cursory look at Sarangi, who was being attended to by fellow BJP members. Sarangi was later wheeled off to an ambulance.
“Rahul Gandhi pushed an MP, who fell on me and I got injured,” he told reporters as BJP members squatted at the Makar Dwar raising slogans against the Congress.
Hitting out at Gandhi, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said appropriate action would be taken in the matter. “Parliament is not a place to show physical strength. It is not a wrestling ring,” he said.
Dubey told reporters, “I am a four-time MP, I have seen something like this for the first time. I have never seen Congress leaders barging into the BJP’s protest or BJP members doing the same when Congress protests. Why did the Congress disrupt the BJP’s protest today? This shows that their only aim is hooliganism.”
A number of ruling alliance MPs, including Union ministers, met their injured colleagues in the hospital as the incident blew up into a major row.
Both Houses witnessed massive uproar amid ‘Jai Bhim’ chants from both sides and were adjourned without witnessing any transaction.
Congress MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitted a complaint against the alleged unruly conduct of BJP MPs against Rahul Gandhi and attempts to stop him from entering Parliament House.
Phangnon Konyak, a woman BJP MP from Nagaland, said in the Rajya Sabha that Gandhi came in “very close proximity of me” during a “peaceful” protest and shouted at her. He made her uncomfortable, she said, accusing him of conduct unbecoming of his position as the leader of the opposition.
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said that he has received a communication from Konyak on the incident and she also met him in his chamber. “I am looking into it. She was literally in tears,” he said in the House.
The Congress and other opposition parties have seized on a part of home minister Amit Shah’s reference to Ambedkar in his Rajya Sabha speech on Tuesday to target the BJP and demand his resignation.
Shah, defended by Modi and other senior members of the BJP and its allies, has accused the Congress of distorting his speech. The BJP has instead cited the alleged insults to Ambedkar and neglect of his legacy during the long years of the Congress’ rule to launch its counter-protest.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Kharge claimed he was pushed by BJP MPs, lost his balance and was forced to sit on the ground, injuring his knees that have already undergone surgery. He has demanded an inquiry into the “attack”.
As the INDIA bloc parliamentarians came face to face with the ruling coalition MPs in front of the Makar Dwar of Parliament, the two sides engaged in loud sloganeering in a bid to outdo each other.
Opposition MPs took out a protest march on the Parliament premises. MPs of the Congress, DMK, RJD, SP, the Left and NCP(SP), among others, participated in the protest. Several opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and K Kanimozhi, were seen wearing blue, a colour associated with Ambedkar. (PTI)
