Lawmakers' protests over Ambedkar hit a new low

New Delhi: High drama prevailed at the Parliament House entrance on Thursday when the MPs of ruling NDA and Opposition I.N.D.I.A came eyeball to eyeball during their protests over BR Ambedkar, leading to both sides levelling allegations against each other, complaining to the Speaker and running to police for filing cases.

Two BJP MPs landed in hospital with injuries to their head and a woman MP of the party, S Phangnon Konyak, accused Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, of coming close to her and shouting at her. On the other hand, the Congress said party president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, suffered injuries in his knees after the ruling party lawmakers pushed him besides manhandling Rahul.

Kharge and Congress Lok Sabha MPs submitted letters to Speaker Om Birla, seeking action while BJP MPs, too, approached him with a complaint against Rahul, accusing him of pushing MPs which allegedly lead to injuries. Congress MP Hibi Eden gave a written statement to Birla denying Konyak's allegations, saying he was with Rahul throughout the protest and her charges were "fabricated".

While BJP MPs filed a police complaint against Rahul for "physical assault" of Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput, Congress MPs, too, filed a complaint at the Parliament Street police station, accusing the BJP lawmakers of misbehaving with Kharge. 

Later, Rahul said at a press conference that the episode in Parliament was an attempt to avoid discussion on the "Adani issue" and accused the BJP of creating a "new distraction" to divert attention from "Narendra Modi's friend" to whom he was "selling India".

Senior BJP minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters that he expected Rahul to apologise while adding that the Congress leader was using physical strength inside Parliament. "Are you going to take a test of physical strength in Parliament? Then wrestlers, goondas will be in. Where is Congress taking it to?"

Since Wednesday, Parliament has been witnessing protests over Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks about Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha, which the Opposition termed as "insulting" to the Dalit icon. The issue continued to boil on Thursday with both sides staging protests on Parliament premises.

While the BJP MPs staged a protest at Makar Dwar, the main entrance of Parliament, the I.N.D.I.A MPs started their march from the Ambedkar Statue on the premises. Trinamool Congress MPs were not present in the march in which senior MPs wore shades of blue in what is seen as a symbolic gesture, as Ambedkarites are identified with the colour.

As the Opposition march reached the entrance, they tried to occupy the space in front of Makar Dwar, leading to a face-off with the BJP MPs. Kharge and newly elected MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were in the front of the march holding Ambedkar’s poster while Rahul held a copy of the Constitution.

As they entered the space, there was intense sloganeering from both sides. While BJP MPs shouted 'Gandhi family, maafi mango' (Gandhi family, apologise) over giving Padma Bhushan to the person who defeated Ambedkar in Lok Sabha poll, Priyanka led the counter attack along with Kharge with 'Jai Bhim' slogans. 

After a brief while, Rahul and some other MPs tried to enter the Parliament House but could not move forward initially during which some MPs fell down. BJP alleged Rahul pushed them. Some of the I.N.D.I.A MPs also climbed a wall near Makar Dwar to stage a protest.