"Condemn attack on BJP MPs; Rahul Gandhi should apologise": Sarbananda Sonowal after Parliament scuffle

New Delhi [India], December 20 (ANI): Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday condemned the injuries sustained by BJP MPs during a faceoff between the ruling alliance and the opposition and sought an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"I strongly condemn the attack on our MPs by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament campus.The Congress party should apologise to the people of the country for such behaviour and I request the chairman of the Rajya Sabha to take action against Rahul Gandhi for his behaviour against our woman parliamentarian," Sonowal said.
Political clash between BJP and Congress intensified on Thursday, with leaders of both parties filing cross-complaints over an alleged scuffle on the Parliament premises.
BJP MPs, led by Anurag Thakur, lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police against Rahul Gandhi for "assault and incitement."
Shortly after, a delegation of Congress MPs, including women MPs, approached Parliament Street Police, accusing BJP leaders of misbehaving with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge during a scuffle in the Parliament premises.
Congress MP Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of resorting to theatrics to divert attention from remarks made about Dr BR Ambedkar.
"It is in BJP's character to level false allegations. They (BJP) have orchestrated this 'natak' and 'nautanki' to counter what they have said about Babasaheb Ambedkar. All this happened due to the confrontationist way of BJP MPs. Mallikarjun Kharge was pushed and misbehaved," Singh told reporters.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also claimed that Mallikarjun Kharge was deliberately pushed, describing the incident as a "conspiracy."
"The way a Dalit leader was abused the day before yesterday, and today he was pushed--this is all a conspiracy," Tiwari said.
Congress MP Jebi Mather alleged that the BJP MPs conspired to disrupt their peaceful protest.
"We were taking out a peaceful march from Babasaheb Ambedkar statue to Makar Dwar. All these days we have been doing peaceful protests. Today, a conspiracy was hatched by the ruling dispensation- BJP MPs, the way they treated Mallikarjun Kharge ji, Priyanka Gandhi ji and other women MPs is unfortunate. They (BJP MPs) wanted to create a scene, and that's exactly what they did," Mather said.
Both the NDA and INDIA bloc MPs had staged a protest in Parliament premises, when a scuffle broke out between the two sides, injuring two BJP MPs.
BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi alleged that he was injured after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pushed another MP, who then fell on him. Sarangi claimed that he was standing near the stairs when another member of Parliament (MP) fell on him, leading to an injury on his head. He was rushed for treatment in an ambulance.
"I was standing near the stairs when Rahul Gandhi came and pushed a fellow MP. That MP fell on me, causing me to fall as well," Sarangi told reporters.
Both the MPs were admitted to Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Reacting to the allegations, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in his defence, said that he was trying to get inside the Parliament when he was also pushed and threatened by the BJP MPs who were protesting near the entrance. He also alleged that Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge was also pushed.
"This might be on your camera. I was trying to go inside through the Parliament entrance, but BJP MPs were trying to stop me, push me and threaten me. This has happened. Yes, this has happened (Mallikarjun Kharge being pushed)," Rahul Gandhi told reporters. (ANI)