Rahul Gandhi to blame for Congress' isolation among allies: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi

Kolkata: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is responsible for the grand old party's "growing isolation" in the opposition bloc, citing leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, and Uddhav Thackeray are distancing themselves from it.

"It is unfortunate and reflects a low level of behaviour. Leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Abhishek Banerjee, and Uddhav Thackeray are staying away from the Congress, and the reason is Rahul Gandhi," said Joshi, the Minister of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), on the sidelines of a review meeting here on the 'PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana' in West Bengal and the Northeast.

The Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, hours after the BJP filed a complaint, accusing him of "physical assault and incitement" during a scuffle in Parliament premises.

A face-off between the opposition and NDA MPs on the Parliament premises over the alleged insult to B R Ambedkar had left former minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput injured.

After the incident, the BJP filed a police complaint against Gandhi, accusing him of "physical assault and incitement" and sought his indictment under sections of attempt to murder and other charges.

In his two-page complaint, BJP MP from Vadodara Hemang Joshi said, "At around 10, I along with Mukesh Rajput ji, Pratap Rao Sarangi ji and other large numbers of my fellow members of Parliament belonging to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), were peacefully demonstrating at the Makar Dwar entrance of Parliament." He said they were protesting against the "blatant misinformation being propagated by opposition parties, particularly led by the Indian National Congress".

"During this peaceful demonstration, Rahul Gandhi arrived at the scene around 10.40 am to 10.45 am. Despite a request from Parliament security to take the designated entry path, Rahul Gandhi with a malicious intent to disrupt the protest and physically harm NDA Members of Parliament ignored the instructions and forcefully barged toward the peaceful demonstrators," Hemang Joshi said in the complaint.

The Congress, meanwhile, accused the BJP MPs of pushing its chief Mallikarjun Kharge and "physically manhandling" Gandhi.

A delegation of Congress MPs, also filed a complaint visiting the police station in person.