Havoc erupted outside Parliament onThursday as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it will lodge a police complaint against leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi for allegedly pushing party MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi. He claimed that he was standing near the stairs when another MP fell on him leading to injuries on his head. “Rahul Gandhi pushed a member of Parliament who fell on me after which I fell down…I was standing near the stairs when Rahul Gandhi came and pushed an MP who fell on me…”
Rahul Gandhi, however, alleged that Sarangi pushed him while he was trying to enter the Parliament.
“I was trying to go inside… but BJP MPs were trying to stop me; they pushed me away and threatened me. Yes (in response to a question about Mr Kharge) … that also happened. But we do not get affected by this jostling. This is Parliament and we have the right to go inside,” he said.
Pratap Chandra Sarangi was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, where he is currently being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“MP Pratap Sarangi was brought to the hospital, with a deep cut on his head, and till the time of arrival at the hospital, had lost a lot of blood. Doctors have stitched the cut for him. Meanwhile, MP Mukesh Rajput, was brought with some head injury and high blood pressure,” the hospital said.
‘Have you learnt Karate to beat up MPs?’
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju criticized Rahul Gandhi for “seriously injuring” MPs and sarcastically asked, “Have you learned Karate or Kung Fu to attack fellow MPs?” This remark came in the context of Gandhi holding a black belt in Aikido, a modern Japanese martial art.
As per the rule book, the police can investigate on the permission of the Lok Sabha Speaker. And if no video evidence is available in the case then it will be Sarangi’s word and Sarangi’s word and the matter could end proofless.
Former Lok Sabha General Secretary PDT Achary said, “The key here will be video evidence. In the absence of this, it could be the word of one MP vs another and difficult to prove.”
Police sources have said, “It is important to ascertain if the accused (Rahul Gandhi) left his place of protest and walked up to the victims and injured them or the other way round. If both stayed at their respective places then motive can’t be attributed and will be treated as a ‘scuffle’.”
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned following noisy protests by the Opposition, which demanded an apology from Amit Shah for his comments on Ambedkar. Dressed in blue, a color associated with B.R. Ambedkar, INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest on Parliament grounds, calling for Shah’s resignation over his remarks concerning the chief architect of the Constitution.
BJP-led NDA parliamentarians also staged a march within Parliament premises, raising slogans and holding placards demanding an apology from the opposition Congress for allegedly insulting Ambedkar.
As MPs from the INDIA bloc confronted members of the ruling coalition near the Makar Dar of Parliament, the two groups engaged in a heated exchange of slogans, each trying to outshout the other.
Members of the INDIA bloc began their protest by gathering at the statue of B.R. Ambedkar within Parliament premises, holding signs that read “Main Bhi Ambedkar,” “Jai Bhim,” and “Amit Shah maafi maango.” They then organized a march across the Parliament grounds. MPs from various parties, including Congress, DMK, RJD, SP, Left, and NCP, took part in the demonstration. Several opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and K. Kanimozhi, were seen wearing blue.
