The raging political storm over Union home minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B.R. Ambedkar saw the Opposition and NDA MPs in face off on the Parliament premises on Thursday, with both the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress accusing each other’s leaders of pushing rival lawmakers.
The scuffle left former minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi injured. The BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of pushing the senior member, a charge rejected by the Congress leader.
Soon after, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the Lok Sabha Speaker order an inquiry into BJP MPs pushing him.
Trouble began when the INDIA bloc members insisted on entering Parliament through the BJP MPs holding a protest instead of using the space left empty on one side of the staircase of the Makar Dwar, used by members to enter and exit the building.
The 69-year-old Sarangi, a BJP member from Balasore in Odisha, suffered injuries on the left temple of his forehead. BJP member Nishikant Dubey accused Rahul 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 charged 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 and taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for treatment.
"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.
"I was trying to enter Parliament and the BJP MPs were stopping me, pushing me and threatening me," Rahul Gandhi told reporters.
Later, Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pralhad Joshi met Sarangi and the hospital to inquire about his well-being. Chouhan told TV reporters that Sarangi received a few stitches to stop the bleeding.
"Appropriate action will be taken after examining the injuries suffered by Sarangi," parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said.
Congress MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitted a complaint against what they called the unruly conduct of BJP MPs against Rahul Gandhi and their stopping him from entering Parliament House.
In a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Congress president 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.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been adjourned following noisy protests by the Opposition seeking an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on B.R. Ambedkar.