Unprecedented fracas on Parliament premises, 2 BJP MPs injured

New Delhi, Dec 19: Plumbing new depths of political animosity, rival MPs screamed and shoved in the forecourt of Parliament on Thursday in unprecedented scenes of unruliness, capping three days of acrimonious debate inside the House over preserving the dignity of B R Ambedkar.

Two BJP MPs were hospitalised with injuries as Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi became the centre of the ruling party’s accusations, including one by a woman MP who said he “misbehaved” with her.

NDA leaders filed a police complaint against him for “attempt to murder, physical assault and incitement”.

The sordid incident perhaps without parallel started in the morning as BJP and opposition MPs marched towards each other over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on Ambedkar. As the two groups came closer, tempers and voices rose, soon resulting in a melee.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he was pushed so violently that he lost his balance and sat down. “Now they are the ones who are accusing us of shoving them,” the 82-year-old said.

However, the more apparent injuries were sustained by BJP’s Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, 69, who had to get stitches in the temple. His colleague Mukesh Rajput was also injured in the head.

The Congress vehemently denied the charges. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Rahul Gandhi and the others were protesting peacefully, but were prevented from entering Parliament by BJP MPs carrying “sticks”.

The BJP MPs were seen carrying placards pinned to sticks.

“BJP MPs stopped, threatened and intimidated me,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress also filed a complaint against the BJP in the Parliament House police station.

Both sides also complained to the respective Chairs in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha against each other.

The scuffles and the controversy served to unite the opposition in defending Rahul Gandhi. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said he knew Rahul Gandhi and he would not push anyone.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, BJP MP from Nagaland S Phangnon Konyak alleged that Gandhi came in her “close proximity” and shouted at her during the protest outside the Parliament’s Makar Dwar which made her feel “extremely uncomfortable”.

In a letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman, she claimed that Rahul Gandhi along with other party MPs came in front of her despite there being a passage created for them by security personnel.

“He misbehaved with me in a loud voice and his physical proximity to me was so close that I being a lady member felt extremely uncomfortable... I belong to the ST community and I am a lady member. My dignity and self-esteem have been deeply hurt by LoP Shri Rahul Gandhi ji.Therefore, Hon’ble Chairman sir, I seek your protection,” she wrote.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said that he 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.

Addressing a joint press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP is indulging in distraction and said they would continue to protest across the country over Shah’s remarks.

Soon after Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a presser at the BJP headquarters where he squarely put the blame on Gandhi for the fracas.

“Rahul Gandhi does not deserve to hold the post of the Leader of Opposition,” Chouhan said as he slammed the Congress leader’s behaviour as “indecent and shameful” and said it is against India’s cultural ethos.

The trouble broke out minutes before both Houses were to convene at 11 am.

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 Minister Home Amit Shah’s remarks on Ambedkar and accused the BJP of slighting the architect of the Constitution.