BJP Odisha President Manmohan Samal Lashes Out At Rahul Gandhi For Pushing Pratap Sarangi

Several MPs from Odisha including Aparajita Sarangi, Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw visited Sarangi at the hospital

Bhubaneswar: BJP state president Manmohan Samal on Thursday lashed out at leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over the incident at Parliament which left Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi injured.

Samal said, "Today is a sad and unfortunate day for parliamentary democracy. Democracy should be respected. There is no place for thugs in democracy. Rahul Gandhi's action and behaviour are being condemned by 140 crore Indians," he said.

Behaviour of elected representatives must change

Samal said the nation's democracy took a hit after Rahul's action. "The more we condemn the incident, the less it is. The behaviour of those we have elected should change. The leader of Opposition behaved like a thug. A mentally sound person would never do such thing," he said while wishing speedy recovery for Sarangi. He said after remaining in power for 56 years, the Congress has now become blinded and discouraged. Congress killed democracy during the Emergency, Samal said.

BJP MPs meet Sarangi

Samal said BJP MPs from Odisha met Pratap Sarangi at the hospital. He said Sarangi suffered a critical head injury and MPs including Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneswar met him at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to enquire about his well-being.

'Rahul Gandhi forcefully entered Parliament'

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Rahul Gandhi tried to enter the Parliament forcibly. Due to this, three to four MPs including Sarangi fell down. Apart from Sarangi, Farrukhabad MP Mukesh Rajput has also been admitted to the ICU in a critical condition, he said.

'Congress' reality has come to light'

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, ''There was a detailed discussion on the Constitution in Parliament. The way the history of Congress was presented before the country came to the fore. The party's real activities came to light today. The leader of Opposition injured two of our MPs by pushing them. They have been admitted to the hospital. Is this the dignity of Parliament? Do you do such things in Parliament? Congress should understand that the entire country clearly knows that it has always opposed Ambedkar and insulted him."

What happened

The confrontation began when BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of pushing an MP, which led Sarangi to fall and sustain injuries. "I was standing near the stairs when Rahul Gandhi came and pushed an MP who then fell on me," Sarangi told the media as he was being rushed to a hospital.

Rahul Gandhi denies allegations

In response, Rahul Gandhi denied the allegations, stating, "I was standing near the entrance where BJP MPs, who were countering protests by INDIA bloc MPs on Amit Shah's remarks, were blocking my way. They were pushing me and threatening me." Gandhi further accused BJP MPs of trying to stop his entry into Parliament and obstructing his progress.

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