BJP MPs were pushing me, stopping me from going inside Parliament: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that BJP MPs were pushing him and stopping him and other opposition MPs from entering Parliament. His remarks came after some BJP MPs claimed that Gandhi pushed an MP, resulting in their leader Pratap Sarangi getting injured.
Sarangi was taken to hospital after getting injured in the melee when the protesting INDIA bloc and the BJP MPs came face to face in front of Makar Dwar in Parliament.
"I was trying to enter Parliament and the BJP MPs were stopping me, pushing me and threatening me," Gandhi told reporters in Parliament premises.
Asked if Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi had also been pushed, Rahul Gandhi said, "It has happened but we don't get bothered with this pushing around."
"This is the entry to Parliament, we have a right to go inside and the BJP members were stopping us from going inside," he alleged and pointed to the Makar Dwar.
Gandhi said the central issue is that they are attacking the Constitution and insulting the memory of Ambedkar.
Several MPs of the INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday demanding Home Minister Amit Shah's apology for his remarks which they claimed were an insult to B R Ambedkar.
The protesting INDIA bloc MPs also came face to face with demonstrating BJP MPs in front of Makar Dwar of Parliament as the two sides engaged in loud sloganeering in a bid to outdo each other and a melee ensued as the MPs were moving towards the steps to go inside Parliament building.
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Conspiracy to save Amit Shah's skin: Priyanka on BJP's allegations against Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday termed the BJP's allegations that her brother and party leader Rahul Gandhi pushed a BJP MP a "conspiracy to save Home Minister Amit Shah's skin". She also accused the ruling party MPs of indulging in "goondagardi" to stop peacefully protesting opposition members from entering Parliament.
A face-off between the opposition and NDA MPs in Parliament premises over the alleged insult to B R Ambedkar left BJP MPS Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput injured. The BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of pushing 69-year-old Sarangi, a charge rejected by the Congress leader.
Priyanka Gandhi said Rahul Gandhi, carrying B R Ambedkar's photograph and raising slogan of Jai Bhim, was peacefully going inside Parliament but was stopped from doing so.
"We have been protesting for so many days and there is always space for people to enter freely. Peaceful protests are taking place daily from 10.30 am to 11 am. Today, for the first time, they (BJP MPs) protested and stopped everyone and then indulged in pushing and 'goodagardi' (hooliganism)'," she told reporters in Parliament premises.
"And now to save Amit Shah's skin they have started this conspiracy that 'bhaiya' has pushed someone. Right before my eyes, Kharge ji was pushed and he fell on the ground. Then they pushed a CPI(M) MP who fell on Kharge ji. I thought it would have broken his leg as it was visible from his face that he was hurt," the Congress general secretary said.
She said a chair was brought for Kharge, 82, from somewhere and pointed out that peaceful protests had been going on from their side.
"This is a conspiracy. We challenged those who were stopping us to say 'Jai Bhim'. Why can't they raise the slogan of 'Jai Bhim'?" Priyanka Gandhi asked.
She also dismissed the BJP's claim that a passage was given to INDIA bloc MPs to enter Parliament and claimed that they were blocked from entering Parliament.
"We did not say anything, we kept raising our slogans and kept fighting for our Constitution. If people have any confusion that the BJP will protect the Constitution then that confusion should be over," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi claimed that the BJP's real feelings have come out in the open in Amit Shah's remarks.
"Their (BJP's) real feelings was in display here. They have violent intentions, they cannot say Jai Bhim. I challenge BJP MPs to stand here and say Jai Bhim," she said.
Earlier, in a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "BJP is repeatedly insulting Babasaheb, who gave the Constitution to the country, who gave rights to every citizen, who changed the lives of crores of Dalits and deprived people with his thoughts and actions."
"By insulting him, the BJP has insulted the sentiments of crores of Dalits and deprived people of the country. The BJP should apologize to the country," she said.
The opposition on Wednesday seized on Shah's remarks on Ambedkar to corner the government and demanded his resignation for what they called was an insult to the architect of the Constitution.
The attack from virtually all opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties and Shiv Sena-UBT, led to the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to come out in stout defence of Shah.
