Congress and BJP MPs almost come to blows in Parliament
What's the story
The sanctity of the Lok Sabha was taken for a ride on Friday when parliamentarians of ruling BJP and opposition Congress almost came to blows and speaker Om Birla had to briefly adjourn the House.
The comments of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan's reaction to it caused the ruckus.
However, Rahul said it was all "orchestrated".
Here's what happened.
Beginning
Rahul said PM Modi should be beaten, invited ire
Rahul's comments at an election rally in Delhi laid roots for the latest episode. The Gandhi scion said that Prime Minister Modi would soon be beaten with sticks for failing to provide employment to youth. He would not be able to step out of his house either, Rahul forecast.
In response, PM Modi said yesterday he will make himself "abuse and danda-proof" soon.
What happened
Vardhan was asked a question, he started with condemnation
This morning, during Question Hour, Rahul asked Vardhan about medical colleges.
Before replying, Vardhan condemned Rahul's words. "Before I begin answering this question of Shri Rahul Gandhi ji, I want to condemn in no uncertain words the outlandish language that he has used against our PM," he said.
But speaker Birla asked the Union Minister to just reply to the question.
Ruckus
A Congress MP came close to Vardhan, BJP member intervened
While Vardhan continued to read his statement against Rahul, Congress camp erupted. Some parliamentarians came towards the well of the House to protest.
Amid this, Manickam Tagore, a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, approached Vardhan who was sitting in the second row. He was caught by his arm by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh.
Details
Soon, House was adjourned, BJP members demanded action
The series of events evoked a reaction from Amethi MP Smriti Irani, who said, "Guys, what are you doing? What is going on?"
Despite the commotion, Vardhan continued to speak. "The entire House present here must in unequivocal terms condemn his remarks against our prime minister," he said.
Once the House was adjourned, BJP leaders demanded Tagore's removal and asked for an apology too.
Versions
Both Vardhan and Rahul had their own takes
Later, Vardhan told reporters what happened inside the Parliament. "When I condemned Rahul for his remarks against the prime minister, the Congress MPs came to my seat, tried to attack me and snatched papers from me," he said.
But if Rahul is to be believed the entire incident was planned. He said BJP doesn't want him to speak in the Parliament.
Quote
We are being stifled: Rahul
"In a completely unparliamentary manner, the Health Minister raised something that I had said outside, which he has no business doing. I think the main issue is that we are being stifled. We are not allowed to speak in the Parliament," he said.
Twitter Post
Rahul said it was an orchestrated attack
The orchestrated ruckus in Parliament today was designed to prevent me from questioning the Govt. The youth of 🇮🇳 can clearly see that the PM has no clue about how to tackle the unemployment crisis. To protect him, the BJP will keep disrupting Parliament, preventing debate.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 7, 2020
Rejoinder
On PM's 'tubelight' jibe, Rahul had a rejoinder
Moreover, Rahul also responded to PM Modi's "tubelight" jibe at him.
"Normally, a prime minister has a particular status, a prime minister has a particular way of behaving, a particular stature, our prime minister doesn't have these. He does not behave in a prime ministerial way," Rahul said.
Meanwhile, Tagore has written to Birla demanding to check CCTV footage to understand who "manhandled" him.