New Delhi: Protest, counterprotests and brawls, and now a police case against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi – over Home Minister Amit Shah’s “Ambedkar is the fashion” remark – roiled Parliament Thursday, with the BJP and Congress trading allegations of each using force to prevent rivals from entering the building.
Two BJP MPs – Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput – were “seriously injured” by the Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, as the tense political stand-off rumbled on outside Makar Dawar, the Parliament’s main door. Mr Rijiju then tore into Mr Gandhi; “… how can he use force in Parliament? Under which law does he have the power to physically assault other MPs?”
And in a sarcastic quip aimed at Mr Gandhi – who holds a black belt in Aikido, a contemporary Japanese martial art – Mr Rijiju said, “Have you learnt karate, kung fu, to beat other MPs?”
“Parliament is not a wrestling arena,” he went on, declaring two of his colleagues had been injured and that he intends to visit them in hospital. Mr Rijiju also demanded an apology from Mr Gandhi.
“Pushed, Shoved Me”: Rahul Gandhi
Mr Gandhi, meanwhile, has responded strongly to Mr Sarangi’s claims. He told reporters it was, in fact, a group of BJP MPs who were blocking his entry into Parliament, and that they were pushing and shoving him and Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge, and that prompted the clash.
“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.
Mr Gandhi also told reporters, “This (the shoving) might be on your camera.”
“Rahul Gandhi Pushed An MP”
The injured BJP MP, Mr Sarangi, said he fell and hurt his head after a third person (unidentified at this time) fell on him. Mr Sarangi said Mr Gandhi had pushed this person who then fell on him.
“Rahul Gandhi pushed an MP who fell on me, after which I fell down…I was standing near the stairs when Rahul Gandhi came and pushed an MP who then fell on me…” he told reporters from a wheelchair and with a medical professional holding a bandage to the side of his head.
Visuals from outside Parliament then showed Mr Sarangi being taken to hospital in an ambulance.
With input from agencies