Crime Branch to investigate BJP’s FIR against Rahul Gandhi over scuffle in Parliament, Congress complaint

DCP (Crime) Sanjay Kumar Sain said, “A team led by ACP Ramesh Lamba will lead the investigation in the case.”

The Crime Branch, it is learnt, received documents related to the case around 8 pm Friday.

The Congress complaint against BJP MPs following the scuffle has also been entrusted to the Crime Branch – in its complaint, the party said BJP MPs had pushed Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to the ground and caused injuries to him.

DCP Sain said, “We will also look into the investigation of the complaint filed by the Congress.”

A senior police officer said, “In the coming days, permission will be taken from relevant authorities to inspect the scene of crime on the Parliament premises.”

The BJP and Congress had filed separate complaints Thursday at the Parliament Street police station, accusing each other of assault.

On Friday, as the winter session of Parliament ended, the Congress stepped up its attack on the BJP, saying this was the first time in the history of Parliament that the ruling party did not let the Houses run.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi who was injured on Thursday. (PTI)

The Congress reiterated its demand for the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remark that it claimed insulted Babasaheb Ambedkar, and sought an apology from Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It also demanded that CCTV footage of the scuffle Thursday be made public. Congress members of Lok Sabha also skipped the customary tea meeting with Speaker Om Birla after the conclusion of the session, while Upper House members from both Opposition and ruling side attended the tea with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

At a press conference by deputy leaders of the Congress in both the Houses – Gaurav Gogoi (Lok Sabha) and Pramod Tiwari (Rajya Sabha) – after the Houses were adjourned sine die, Tiwari said: “In the history of democracy, this has happened for the first time. Generally, the Opposition disturbs the Parliament – whether it was when the BJP was in Opposition or us. This is the first time that in the first week, the ruling party did not allow the House to be run.”

“Parliament was surrounded, the entry gate blocked, we were not allowed inside the House. They put sticks in their posters… There is footage. They were protected from entering the House, and our 83-year-old LoP of Rajya Sabha was pushed to the ground. This was the first time that the Opposition was not allowed to enter Parliament. Our demand is that CCTV footage of every second, every inch should be made public. When it is issued, it will become clear we weren’t allowed to enter,” he said.

Tiwari asked why an FIR was not lodged despite the Congress leaders having submitted a complaint at the same time as the BJP. “Their FIR was lodged, but ours was not. This is against Supreme Court orders,” he said.

Gogoi claimed that BJP’s male members “overpowered Congress female MPs” during the incident Thursday. “We wrote letters to the Lok Sabha Speaker yesterday about the incident and demanded an inquiry… Why haven’t we received an answer to the letters? And no answer to the police complaint yesterday. And if they think Rahul Gandhiji will bow down because of the FIR, then they are wrong… We will not step back because of false FIRs,” he said, adding that the 12 seconds during which Shah remarked about Ambedkar “will cost the BJP heavily”.

The BJP, on the other hand, accused Rahul Gandhi of showing an “edited” speech of Shah and “creating tension in masses”. It moved notice of breach of privilege against Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey submitted the privilege notice in Lok Sabha to Speaker Om Birla.

In his communication to the Speaker, Dubey said Gandhi shared on social media, especially X, an “edited” version of Shah’s speech in Rajya Sabha with the sole intent of stoking public sentiments and lowering the dignity of Parliament and the country.

At a press conference when he was asked about BJP’s privilege notice, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that privilege has been moved against Kharge because he shared a clip of speech of Shah on X to “mislead” and “misinform” people.

“In Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhiji too shared a similar 12-second clip of Amit Shah’s Rajya Sabha speech, misinterpreted it, tried to create tension in the society. Notice has been given on it. Now it is in the hands of the Chair,” Rijiju said.