NEW DELHI: Accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of pushing and shoving its MPs on the Parliament premises, the BJP on Thursday said he does not deserve to be the Leader of Opposition after such “indecent and shameful” conduct.Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters hours after unprecedented scenes of unruliness unfolded during protests by the ruling and opposition parties, Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan squarely blamed Gandhi for the fracas.“Rahul Gandhi does not deserve to hold the post of the Leader of Opposition,” Chouhan said as he slammed the Congress leader’s behaviour and alleged it is against India’s cultural ethos.Gandhi has rejected the BJP’s charge that he pushed its MPs and alleged that the ruling party MPs “stopped, threatened and intimidated” him.Chouhan said the party was also pained at the treatment meted out to its tribal MP from Nagaland S Phangnon Konya, who alleged in the Rajya Sabha that Rahul Gandhi shouted at her after coming in “close proximity” that made her feel uncomfortable during a demonstration outside the Parliament’s Makar Dwar.“Will physical strength be used in Parliament? Will musclemen and goondas come to Parliament? In which direction is the Congress taking the country’s democracy?” asked the BJP leader, who was flanked by Union minister Piyush Goyal and party MPs Anurag Thakur and Anil Baluni.BJP MPs — Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput — were injured in the melee and hospitalised as the ruling and opposition MPs allegedly marched towards each other minutes before the start of the parliamentary proceedings.“What happened in Parliament today is unimaginable,” Chouhan said as he accused Gandhi of pushing the BJP members, terming his conduct as “indecent, impudent and goondagardi”.Chouhan claimed that when the BJP MPs were protesting, Gandhi deliberately approached them and insisted on passing through them instead of using the space left on one side of the staircase of the Makar Dwar, used by members to enter and exit the building.He did this despite the security personnel requesting him to use the space left for the parliamentarians’ entry, the minister alleged.Chouhan said people elect their leaders to Parliament with the hope that they will put forth their issues with facts and logic.“But the Congress is changing it,” he said and asked, ‘Will physical strength be used in Parliament?”
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