Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and senior BJP leaders of the state on Thursday condemned the incident in which party MP Pratap Sarangi was injured in Parliament, and said such ‘gundagardi’ is not acceptable in democracy.
The Chief Minister said he was praying for the speedy recovery of BJP’s Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi, claiming that he got injured because of the “irresponsible and objectionable” behaviour of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Parliament.
Majhi said “such actions” of Gandhi were not only “unacceptable” but also an insult to the “sacred house of democracy”.
“Due to irresponsible and objectionable behaviour of Rahul Gandhi in Parliament, our senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP from Balasore Shri @pcsarangi ji got injured. Such actions of Rahul Gandhi are not only unacceptable but it is also an insult to the sacred house of democracy,” the CM said in a post on X handle.
“I pray for the speedy recovery of Shri @pcsarangi ji and strongly condemn such acts in Parliament. This type of violence has no place in a democracy,” he added.
A face-off between the opposition and NDA MPs in Parliament premises over the alleged insult to BR Ambedkar left former Union minister Sarangi injured. The BJP accused Gandhi of pushing the senior member, a charge rejected by the Congress leader.
State BJP president Manmohan Samal said, “This is not an act of a person with a sound mind. It is unfortunate that the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha indulged in such kind of action. I wish for the speedy recovery of the Balasore MP.”
BJP’s national Vice-President Baijayant Panda said such conduct by the Leader of the Opposition is shocking and is unacceptable in a democracy.
Similarly, Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said, “This is very unfortunate and disgusting. The Speaker has always said that demonstrations should not be held at Parliament’s ‘Makar Dwar’. I have seen such demonstration at the Makar Dwar. However, the way they were demonstrating and not letting anyone enter the Parliament is highly condemnable.”
Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi also slammed the LoP and said, “I have had a talk with the doctors. Pratap ji will be kept under observation. His blood pressure is high and he has suffered injuries on his left eyebrow. He has had two stitches. All I want to say is that protests should be held with humility and responsibility, which we have never seen in Congress.”
“We were protesting when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi arrived. They forcibly tried to enter the Parliament when Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput ji were injured,” she added.
