[Watch] Injured Odisha MP Pratap Sarangi Claims Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Hand’; He Retorts

New Delhi: Former Union Minister Pratap Sarangi, who is a BJP MP from Odisha, sustained injuries, including a head wound, when Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi allegedly pushed another MP, causing him to fall on the former, during INDIA bloc’s protest inside Parliament premises on Thursday.

“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…,” Sarangi told reporters.

Visuals from outside Parliament then showed Sarangi being taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Watch: Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Member of the Lok Sabha, gets injured after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi allegedly pushed the BJP leader.

Pratap Sarangi suffered injuries, including a head wound pic.twitter.com/otTdbT05o4

— IANS (@ians_india) December 19, 2024

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Congress of resorting to violence after spreading lies. “Not only FIR should be filed against Rahul Gandhi for endangering life and safety of BJP MP but Speaker must take cognisance and direct proceedings and action on such hooliganism by Rahul Gandhi – he has always shown such tendencies in Congress meetings too.. Is he LoP or is he an entitled Leader of Anarchy & Violence ?” he asked through a video post on X.

Reacting to the claims, Rahul Gandhi alleged that he was pushed by some BJP MPs.

“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…But we do not get affected by jostling,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He further added: “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.”

मैं संसद के अंदर जाने की कोशिश कर रहा था।

लेकिन BJP के सांसद मुझे रोकने की कोशिश कर रहे थे, धक्का दे रहे थे और धमका रहे थे।

ये संसद है और अंदर जाना हमारा अधिकार है।

: नेता विपक्ष श्री @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/wfwAGAeruf

— Congress (@INCIndia) December 19, 2024

Video showed BJP MPs reacting angrily when Rahul approached Sarangi shortly after the incident to enquire about his condition. “Aapko sharm nahi aati hai Rahul? gundagardi karte ho… gira diya dhakka dekar (Aren’t you ashamed, Rahul? You commit hooliganism…pushed the old man down),” said BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

Odisha BJP MP Pratap Sarangi sustained injuries, when Rahul Gandhi pushed another MP, causing him to fall on Sarangi.
The sheer nonchalance and arrogance of Gandhi scion is for all to see. Congress leadership is now restoring to physical assaults… pic.twitter.com/62EQ8xQoqa

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 19, 2024