Three Congress MPs KC Venugopal, Manickam Tagore and Kodikunnil Suresh on Thursday wrote to Lok Sabha speaker, Om Birla, alleging that three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs ‘physically manhandled’ the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. They wrote expressing their deep anguish over the incident at Parliament premises and said that INDIA alliance members were protesting peacefully.
“Members of the INDIA alliance were peacefully protesting and marching from the Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar statue to Makar Dwar. However, as we attempted to enter the Parliament through Makar Dwar, the protesting MPs were physically obstructed from entering,” the letter read.
Alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was manhandled, they said that it was a clear violation of the privileges extended to the Leader of the Opposition and infringed the rights accorded to him.
The Congress MPs accused the BJP MPs of blatantly assaulting the personal dignity of Rahul Gandhi and said that the behaviour was antithetical to the democratic spirit of the Parliament.
What Congress MPs said?
"Today, after our peaceful dharna at Prerna Sthal and a walk around Samvidhan Sadan carrying posters, we were shocked to witness BJP MPs blocking entrances with sticks attached to posters. Strangely, no security guards were present despite this being a total violation of the Hon’ble Speaker’s directives," KC Venugopal wrote in a post on X.
"In a disgraceful turn of events, the stick-wielding BJP MPs pushed the Hon’ble Congress President, a senior and respected leader, while the Hon’ble LOP in Lok Sabha was also prevented and pushed from entering the House," he added.
Taking a similar tone, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "Today I saw the BJP MPs being hostile and threatening towards Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and LOP Rahul Gandhi. The BJP MPs had sticks in their hands. I saw with my own eyes how Shri Mallikarjun Kharge was being threatened and pushed."
"This shows the mindset of the party. I condemn this arrogance. would also request a review of the security protocol at the steps of Makar Dwar today," he wrote in a post.
