Angry Trinamool MPs could be seen rushing out of Parliament.
In an embarrassing and ugly new low for Parliament, law-makers from the ruling BJP and Bengal's Trinamool Congress had to be restrained today from attacking each other in the Lok Sabha.
Kalyan Banerjee of the Trinamool was seen rushing out of Parliament, shouting that a drunk BJP law-maker had threatened to beat up members of the Trinamool and disrobe Kakoli Ghosh, a woman MP.
The BJP has denied the accusations.
The trouble began when Trinamool law-makers began shouting slogans against the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha to protest against the Railways Budget which was presented today. They alleged that Bengal and its development had been ignored in the financial plan. BJP law-makers retaliated with slogans of their own that praised the PM. (
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Tempers soared and just when it looked like a brawl would erupt, senior BJP leaders Kalraj Mishra and Prakash Javadekar rushed to keep the two sides apart. (
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"We were putting slogans because we are unhappy with rail budget...suddenly MPs from treasury benches came to beat us. They used such filthy language. If women are not safe inside the House, how people in the country will be safe in the hands of the BJP?" asked Ms Ghosh of the Trinamool. (
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Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister who heads the Trinamool, said in Kolkata that she had been briefed on the phone and that "whatever happened is unfortunate. Parliament is the pillar of democracy." However, reiterating the point her MPs had made, she asked, "Bengal has been given nothing. Are we beggars?" (
'Bengal Has Been Given Nothing, Are We Beggars?' Mamata Banerjee on Rail Budget)
Trinamool leaders say that the BJP's Hari Narayan Rajbhar hurled a torrent of abuse at them; he says that's incorrect. (
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"When they started abusing (us), our MPs intervened," said Harish Dwivedi of the BJP. "Opposition women MPs started running towards them. So people from our party went to intervene," he countered.