Opposition and NDA lawmakers clashed Wednesday in a scuffle outside Parliament, with BJP’s Pratap Sarangi sustaining an injury in the melee. The altercation took place amid competing marches over the Ambedkar issue, with the opposition accusing Home Minister Amit Shah of insulting the chief architect of the Constitution.
Sarangi was taken to a hospital with a forehead injury.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, later claimed that BJP members pushed and “threatened” him as he tried to enter Parliament.
“It is our right to enter Parliament,” Gandhi told reporters.
When asked whether Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi were also pushed, Gandhi confirmed it but added, “We don’t get bothered with this pushing around.” He claimed BJP members were obstructing their entry into Parliament through Makar Dwar.
As the Ambedkar row escalated, BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi claimed that he was injured as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had pushed an MP who 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,” Sarangi said.
Replying to the claims, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that BJP MPs were attempting to stop INDIA bloc leaders from entering the Parliament.
“This might be on your camera. I was trying to go inside through the Parliament entrance, BJP MPs were trying to stop me, push me and threaten me. So this happened…Yes, this has happened (Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed). But we do not get affected by jostling. But this is the entrance and we have the right to go in. BJP MPs were trying to stop us from going in…The central issue is that they are attacking the Constitution and insulting the memory of Ambedkar ji.”
Dressed in blue, a colour associated with B R Ambedkar, Opposition INDIA bloc members on Thursday took out a protest march in Parliament premises demanding the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks related to the architect of the Constitution.
BJP-led NDA parliamentarians also carried out a march within Parliament premises raising slogans and carrying placards demanding an apology from the opposition Congress for allegedly insulting Ambedkar.
Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, marched from Ambedkar’s statue within Parliament complex to Parliament House raising slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’ and carrying photographs of the leader.
A massive political row erupted on Wednesday as the Congress and other opposition parties launched an all-out attack on Shah for his remarks on Ambedkar and demanded his sacking, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders rallied to his defence and said he has exposed Congress’ “anti-Ambedkar” stand.