Ambedkar row: Scuffle erupts outside Parliament, Congress and BJP MPs accuse each other of heckling

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visits BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi who got injured after clashes between India Bloc and NDA MPs, at Parliament complex, in New Delhi, on December 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A scuffle broke out outside the Parliament on Thursday (December 19, 2024) further escalating the political row over Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi 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 Mr. Gandhi had pushed an MP, resulting in their leader Pratap Sarangi getting injured. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused Mr. Gandhi of pushing and physically assaulting two of their MPs, Mr. Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also accused Mr. Gandhi of resorting to “goondagardi” (hooliganism). Mr. Rijiju said that appropriate action will be taken.

Mr. 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.

Also read | NDA, INDIA bloc MPs hold protest marches over Ambedkar issue

The BJP/NDA protests were a counter to INDIA bloc protests over Home Minister Amit Shah’s reference to Ambedkar. INDIA bloc MPs took out a march within the Parliament complex, demanding Mr. Shah’s apology and resignation.

Amid these allegations and counter allegations, the Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned within a minute after obituary references.

BJP MPs were pushing me: Rahul

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

Asked if Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi had also been pushed, Mr. 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.

Mr. 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 (Dec. 18) 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.

(With inputs from PTI)