New Delhi: Plumbing new depths of political animosity, rival MPs screamed and shoved in the forecourt of Parliament 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”, it said.
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.
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.
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.
BJP member Nishikant Dubey accused Gandhi of pushing Sarangi. “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 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 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
