NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi on Thursday alleged that he was injured after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pushed him, amid ongoing protests between INDIA bloc and BJP MPs in front of Makar Dwar outside Parliament. The incident sparked a fresh controversy, and Sarangi was taken to the hospital after sustaining injury.
Sarangi claimed that while he was standing on the stairs, another Member of Parliament fell on him, resulting in a head injury. “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,” Sarangi told reporters.
Reacting to the allegations, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “This might be on your camera. I was trying to go inside through the Parliament entrance, BJP MPs were trying to stop me, push me and threaten me. So this happened…Yes, this has happened (Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed).”
“But we do not get affected by jostling. But this is the entrance and we have the right to go in. BJP MPs were trying to stop us from going in…The central issue is that they are attacking the Constitution and insulting the memory of Ambedkar ji,” he added.
Who is BJP MP Pratap Sarangi
- Pratap Chandra Sarangi is a Member of Parliament from the Balasore constituency in Odisha, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
- Sarangi was born on January 4, 1955, in Gopinathpur, Nilgiri, in the Balasore district. He is the son of the late Gobinda Chandra Sarangi.
- Sarangi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fakirmohan College, affiliated with Utkal University, which he completed in 1975.
- He was appointed Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying in July 2021.
- He opened schools in hundreds of tribal villages under Gana Shiksha Mandir Yojana in Balasore and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.
- The 69-year-old leader has held several key positions.
- The incident occurred while the BJP MPs were protesting against the Congress party for allegedly disrespecting Babasaheb Ambedkar during Parliament’s winter session.
- The MPs gathered in the premises displaying banners stating “Ambedkar showed us the path, Congress misled” chanting slogans like “Babasaheb Ambedkar ji ka apmaan nahi chalega.”