Protest, counterprotests and brawls, and an attempt to murder police complaint against Rahul Gandhi – over Amit Shah’s “Ambedkar is the fashion” remark – all roiled Parliament Thursday, with the BJP and Congress trading allegations of each using force to prevent rivals from entering the building.
At the epicentre of the maelstrom – which began Monday with fury over Mr Shah’s quip about Dr Ambedkar – is an all-out attack by the BJP against Mr Gandhi and his “ego bigger than law”. The jabs were hurled by the BJP’s Anurag Thakur and Bansuri Swaraj after they were rushed to the Parliament Street Police Station to file a complaint over injuries allegedly inflicted on two colleagues by Mr Gandhi.
The MPs – Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput – were “seriously injured” by Mr Gandhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju claimed, as the government and the opposition began the day with protests outside Parliament’s Makar Dawar. In a sarcastic quip aimed at Mr Gandhi – who holds a black belt in Aikido, a Japanese martial art – he also said, “Have you learnt karate, kung fu, to beat other MPs?”
“Parliament is not a wrestling arena,” he went on, demanding an apology from Mr Gandhi.
Shortly afterwards the Congress claimed an injury to one of its own; party boss Mallikarjun Kharge wrote saying his knees had been hurt in the protests. And then the trading of allegations escalated – first the BJP’s Nagaland MP, Phangnon Konyak, accusing Mr Gandhi of misbehaving with her, and then the Congress’ Jebi Mather claimed mistreatment of Priyanka Gandhi and other women MPs from her party.
READ | Amid ‘Injury vs Injury’ Row, Big Charge By Congress Women MPs
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, has reportedly spoken to Mr Sarangi and Mr Rajput, both of whom have been admitted to the ICU, or intensive care unit, of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
As the day wound down, the two sides also traded press conferences, each slamming and accusing the other of ‘goonda–gardi‘ and wanting apologies – the BJP from Mr Gandhi, the Congress from Mr Shah.
“The BJP and the RSS (the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ruling party’s ideological mentor) thinking is anti-Constitution, anti-Ambedkar,” Mr Gandhi said in his presser, while union ministers Piyush Goyal and Shivraj Chouhan calling the Congress leader’s actions “shameful” and “unimaginable”.
Earlier, Mr Gandhi responded strongly to claims he had shoved and injured Mr Sarangi.
He told reporters it was, in fact, BJP MPs who were blocking his entry into Parliament, and that they were pushing and shoving him and Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge, and that prompted the clash.
“I was trying to go inside… but BJP MPs were trying to stop me; they pushed me away and threatened me. Yes (in response to a question about Mr Kharge) … that also happened. But we do not get affected by this jostling. This is Parliament and we have the right to go inside,” he said.
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Mr Gandhi also told reporters, “This (the shoving) might be on your camera.”
The Congress leader has been staunchly defended by the National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, who declared, “I know Rahul, he would not push anyone much less a Member of Parliament.”
READ | “Not In His Nature To Be Nasty”: Omar Abdullah Defends Rahul
Mr Gandhi has also been backed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to defame her brother to divert attention from the protests over the Ambedkar remark.
The injured BJP MP, Mr Sarangi, said he fell and hurt his head after a third person (unidentified at this time) fell on him. Mr Sarangi said Mr Gandhi had pushed this person who then fell on him.
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“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…” he told reporters from a wheelchair and with a medical professional holding a bandage to the side of his head.
Visuals from outside Parliament then showed Mr Sarangi being taken to hospital in an ambulance.
All of this follows Mr Shah’s remarks about Dr BR Ambedkar.
On Monday, in concluding remarks on a two-day debate on the Constitution, Mr Shah quipped, “It has become the fashion to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar…’ If they (the opposition) took God’s name so many times, they will get a place in heaven.”
The remark triggered a furious pushback from the opposition, with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party leading the charge, and demanding Mr Shah apologise and resign his post. Meanwhile, the Trinamool and the Congress have moved privilege motions against Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha.
READ | Congress 2nd To Move Privilege Motion Against Amit Shah
Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge has been particularly vocal, demanding that Prime Minister Modi, “If (he) has any respect for Babasaheb Ambedkar, he should drop Shah from the Cabinet.”
READ | “If PM Respects Ambedkar…”: Congress’ Kharge Targets Amit Shah
On Wednesday Mr Shah – Prime Minister Modi’s No 2 and one of the most powerful figures in the BJP – seemed to take the unusual step of publicly defending himself, saying the Congress had “distorted facts” after being stung by “examples of how the Constitution was attacked (when it was in power)”.
READ | “Congress Anti-Ambedkar, Twisted My Words”: Amit Shah Responds
He also refused to step down, saying, “Khargeji is asking for my resignation. If it will make him happy, I will.. but it won’t end his problems. He will have to sit in the same place (the opposition) for 15 years…”
And in an even more unusual move, one perhaps underlining the impact the opposition’s attack is having on the BJP – the Prime Minister and his members of his cabinet have come out in defence.
“If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken!” the PM said.
READ | PM Leads BJP Fightback As Opposition Ups Ante In Ambedkar Row
“People of India have seen, time and again, how one party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr Ambedkar…” he said on X.
With input from agencies
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