The political slugfest over Amit Shah’s remarks on BR Ambedkar saw dramatic escalation on Thursday, placing the Opposition atop the ‘Makar Dwar’ of Parliament in protest and leaving two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP injured due to what allegedly was result of a push by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
Trouble began when the INDIA bloc members insisted on entering Parliament through the BJP MPs holding a protest instead of using the space left empty on one side of the staircase of the Makar Dwar, used by members to enter and exit the building.
Mukesh Rajput and Pratap Sarangi, the BJP MPs injured, were admitted to the Intensive Care Unite (ICU) of Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohiya (RML) Hospital over the injuries they sustained. While it was learnt that BJP was considering legal action against Congress over the matter, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also later alleged he was physically pushed in Parliament.
Amit Shah’s remarks on BR Ambedkar he made in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday have stirred a massive row, with the Congress-led Opposition seizing on the comments to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government and also demanding the Home Minister’s resignation.
Amping up their attack on Amit Shah and the BJP-led central government, MPs of opposition camp ‘INDIA’ climbed the Makar Dwar of Parliament on Thursday with placards demanding an apology and resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his MP sister Priyanka Gandhi were part of the opposition leaders who protested on Makar Dwar.
Parallely to opposition’s protest in Parliament, BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi alleged that he was left injured after Rahul Gandhi pushed a parliamentarian who, taking him along, fell down.
“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,” said Pratap Chandra Singh, who was being moved on a wheelchair with a handkerchief placed on his forehead, seemingly over a wound.
Responding to the allegations, Rahul Gandhi said BJP MPs were trying to stop him and were threatening him.
“I was just trying to go inside the Parliament and BJP MPs were trying to stop me, threatening me. This is what has happened… This is the entrance of Parliament House and we have a right to go inside.”
Congress later also shared a video of MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party chief and Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge when they were allegedly being stopped by ruling party MPs while entering Parliament on Thursday.
Later, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also alleged he was physically pushed by BJP MPs. “This morning INDIA party MPs marched from the statue of Dr Ambedkar t Prerna Sthal to Maka Dwar. This was to protest against the insulting remarks on Dr Ambedkar made by Union Home Minister in his speech in Rajya Sabha on December 17, 2024,” Kharge said in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
“When I reached Makar Dwar along with the IDNIA parties MPS, I was physically pushed by BJP MPs. I lost my balance and was forced to sit down on the ground in front of Makar Dwar, this inflicted injury on my knees which have already undergone surgery,” Kharge added.
Hospital on MPs’ condition
The Director and Medical Superintendent of RML informed that Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput were in ICU, adding that a team of doctors is providing treatment to stabilise them.
Investigations like CT scan and others are undergoing, told RML MS Ajay Shukla.
“MP Pratap Sarangi was brought to the hospital, with a deep cut on his head, and till the time of arrival at the hospital, had lost a lot of blood. “Doctors have stitched the cut for him,” Shukla said.
“Meanwhile, MP Mukesh Rajput, was brought with some head injury and high blood pressure. The team is providing all necessary treatment to the two,” he added.
What did Amit Shah say about BR Ambedkar
It all started from Amit Shah’s remarks on Tuesday in Rajya Sabha that Congress leaders would have got a place in heaven had they chanted the name of God rather than following the “fashion of repeating Ambedkar’s name”.
“Now a fashion has become – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. “If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven,” Shah had said.
Amit Shah had also said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar’s name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him.
