The political storm over home minister Amit Shah’s “insulting” remarks against B.R. Ambedkar brought Opposition and ruling lawmakers face to face on Parliament premises on Thursday, triggering an ugly brawl, accusations, police cases and a woman MP’s “misbehaving” charge against Rahul Gandhi.

The BJP, seemingly pushed to the back foot over Shah’s remarks by a united Opposition, seized on the fracas to gun for Rahul. It accused the leader of the Opposition of “goondagardi (hooliganism)” and using his “sharirik shakti (physical strength)” and “kung fu” skills to push and shove senior BJP parliamentarians.

Two BJP parliamentarians ended up in hospital, claiming to be victims of a “push” from Rahul.

Hours later, a woman BJP Rajya Sabha member from Nagaland, Phangnon Konyak, came out to accuse Rahul of “misbehaving” and making her “extremely uncomfortable” with his physical proximity.

The BJP filed a police complaint against Rahul, accusing him of “assault and incitement”.

A counter FIR filed with the same Parliament police station by the Congress alleged that BJP members had “pushed and misbehaved” with the 84-year-old Congress president and leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit.

The possibility of the BJP targeting Rahul with the stringent SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act too looms, given the charges levelled by Konyak.

The BJP’s social media head, Amit Malviya, pushed for this. “FIR must be filed against Rahul Gandhi under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act for assaulting BJP MP S Phangnon Konyak, a woman and Tribal. Additionally, another case must be filed for outraging the modesty and undermining dignity of a woman in the precinct of Parliament,” Malviya posted on X.

Kharge wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding an “inquiry” into the brawl at the entrance to Parliament, claiming he had suffered “injury” to his knees from pushing by ruling party MPs.

It all started in the morning with the Opposition and the NDA holding separate protests on Parliament premises, accusing each other of “insulting” Ambedkar.

The ruling side MPs protested in front of the main Makar Dwar entrance, defying a ruling from the Speaker not to obstruct the “smooth passage of MPs”.

The Congress-led Opposition held its protest march against Shah from Ambedkar’s statue at the Parliament complex to the main entrance. As the Opposition MPs arrived to enter Parliament, they faced protesting BJP members at the gate and on the staircase. That started the fracas.

Rahul claimed that BJP members had “pushed” him and his colleagues and did not allow them to enter Parliament. BJP members later alleged that Rahul had pushed his way into Parliament through their protest, disregarding requests from security staff to take the ramps on both sides of the staircase.

Pratap Chandra Sarangi, the 69-year-old BJP member from Balasore in Odisha, fell on the steps in the melee and hurt his head.

“Rahul Gandhi pushed an MP, who fell on me and I got injured,” Sarangi told reporters while being taken to hospital. The BJP member who fell on Sarangi was identified as Mukesh Rajput from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Rajput too was taken to hospital.

“I was trying to enter Parliament and the BJP MPs were stopping me, pushing me and threatening me,” Rahul told reporters.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that Rahul had used his kung fu skills to bully BJP members.

Hours later, Konyak rose in the Rajya Sabha to implicate Rahul.

“I was participating in a peaceful protest just below the staircase…. Suddenly, LoP Gandhi along with party members came in front of me…. He misbehaved with me in a loud voice and his close proximity to me was so close that I being a lady member felt extremely uncomfortable,” Konyak said.

She sought “protection from the Chair”.

The Congress claimed the Nagaland MP’s charge was “fake” and that she had tried to block Rahul from entering Parliament.

“It is very unfortunate that a female BJP MP has lodged a fake complaint. I was with Rahul Gandhi and as he tried to enter Parliament, the Nagaland MP was blocking Rahul,” Congress MP Hibi Eden claimed.

“But we very well made sure there was no physical contact or interaction with the female MP because we knew the BJP would bring such a charge,” she added, urging that CCTV footage be checked.

Sushmita Dev of the Trinamool Congress too contested Konyak’s version.

“When MP @SPhangnon came into Rajya Sabha, I believed she wld be the voice of peoples rights of Nagaland & North East instead she is being used by the @BJP4India to play the victim card & peddle lies,” she wrote on X.

“She has also remained a mute spectator over atrocities in Manipur. What a fall from grace! In my view her version of the incidents today targeting Mr. Gandhi (LOP LS) is untenable & unfortunate!”

Rahul found support also from Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who had recently questioned the Congress’s stance on EVMs.

“I know Rahul, he would not push anyone much less a member of parliament. It’s simply not in his nature to be rude or nasty to anyone,” he posted on X in response to Sarangi’s claims.

After filing a police complaint, Kharge, at a media address with Rahul in the afternoon, said he had lost his balance in the jostling at Makar Dwar and sat down.

“They stopped us at the entrance and did this to show their muscle power. They forcefully attacked us… and pushed me. Now they are accusing us that we pushed them,” Kharge said. He announced a nationwide protest against the BJP.

Rahul said: “We were demanding that the home minister apologise and resign for insulting Ambedkar. Today, again, they have started a new distraction.”

While the Congress kept its guns trained on Shah for allegedly disrespecting Ambedkar, Rahul maintained that the BJP was creating distractions to divert attention from the main issue, Adani and his indictment in the US.

“The main issue they want to erase is a case against Narendra Modi’s friend Adani in the US,” he said.

Late in the evening, Kharge alleged that BJP workers had “ransacked” Congress offices in Mumbai and Calcutta.

Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, fielded by the BJP, hit out at Rahul.

Chouhan accused the Rae Bareli MP of “deliberately pushing through the protesting BJP MPs”, using his “sharirik shakti” and resorting to “goondagardi”. He claimed that two BJP members had suffered “serious injuries” and were still in hospital.

“Our old and poor MP, Pratap Sarangi, fell down and suffered serious injury to his forehead. When I came to visit… Mukesh Rajput was unconscious, his MRI was being done. One of our tribal MPs, sister Konyakji, was treated and she was weeping,” Chouhan said at a media address.

He underscored the “Adivasi nari ka apman (insult to a tribal woman)”. He said the BJP would use “all legal options” against Rahul’s “shameful” conduct but did not elaborate.

Referring to an afternoon protest by Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha, Chouhan said: “The Congress MPs broke all decorum and climbed on the Speaker’s podium…. Today, the dignity of the Chair has been trampled on, democracy has been ripped to pieces, the Constitution has been crushed… the Congress has committed the sin of tarnishing democracy.”

BJP insiders said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after coming to the aid of Shah over the Ambedkar “insult”, had sought all the videos of the fracas.

Modi was closely monitoring the developments and issuing directions to ministers and party leaders on how to corner Rahul and the Congress, the sources said.

Shah had on Tuesday said: “It has become a fashion to keep invoking Ambedkar. Had they taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven....”

Lalu slams Shah

RJD president Lalu Prasad launched a blistering attack on Shah on Thursday, calling the home minister a lunatic and asking him to quitpolitics.

Amit Shah has gone mad. He hates Babasaheb Ambedkar. I have seen and heard what he has said. I condemn his lunacy. Ambedkar was a great God),” Lalu told reporters.

The former Bihar chief minister added: “Shah should resign and run away. He should quit politics.”