New Delhi:
Leaders of the BJP are making a beeline for Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospital to visit to the two party MPS admitted after they were injured in the brawl outside parliament earlier today. Pratap Sarangi from Odisha and Mukesh Rajput from Uttar Pradesh had sustained head injuries during parallel protests from Treasury and Opposition benches outside parliament. Both MPs are admitted in the Intensive Care unit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called up Mr Sarangi and Mr Rajput and inquired about their health. Among those who visited them are senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Dharmendra Pradhan, reported news agency Press Trust of India. Union minister Amit Shah is likely to visit later.
Mr Chouhan was vocal in his condemnation of Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, who, Mr Sarangi claimed, was responsible for their injuries.
“Decorum has been torn apart. Democracy has been shredded and sullied. There is no other example like that of the hooliganism of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. Such conduct was never seen in the Parliamentary history of India,” Mr Chouhan said.
“Why are they releasing their frustration in Parliament if they lost Haryana and Maharashtra? A workshop should be called to train Rahul Gandhi and Congress people to understand the conduct in democracy,” he added.
Pratap Sarangi had claimed that he got injured after Rahul Gandhi pushed Mr Rajput. They were standing on the stairs when Mr Rajput fell on him.
“Rahul Gandhi pushed a member of Parliament 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…” Mr Sarangi said.
“Appropriate action will be taken after examining the injuries suffered by Sarangi,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said. “Parliament is not a place to show physical strength. It is not a wrestling ring,” he added.
Mr Gandhi has denied the allegations, saying it was a ruse to deflect attention from Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on BR Ambedkar.
The hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Ajay Shukla said Mr Sarangi was “bleeding profusely” when he was brought in.
“He had a deep cut on his forehead and it had to be stitched. His blood pressure and anxiety level were high when he was brought in,” the doctor said.
“Rajput also had a head injury immediately after which he lost consciousness. However, the MP was in his senses when he was brought to the hospital. His blood pressure levels had also shot up,” Dr Shukla was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
The Congress has claimed that their leaders have also suffered injuries during the brawl. In a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed he was pushed by BJP MPs, lost his balance and was forced to sit on the ground, injuring his knees that have already undergone surgery.
He sought an inquiry into the incident, claiming it was not just an attack on him personally, but on the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president.
