A few members of the BJP and the Congress almost came to blows in the Lok Sabha on Friday when Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan roundly condemned Rahul Gandhi's 'danda' remark at Prime Minister Modi and called it "outlandish", sparking demands for apology from each side to the other.
The ruckus broke out during the fag end of the Question Hour after Vardhan said he would like to make a statement on Gandhi's recent comment on the prime minister before giving an answer to a starred question by the Congress leader related to establishment of medical colleges.
During a poll campaign rally in Delhi on Wednesday, Gandhi warned Modi that in the next six months, the youth will hit him with sticks if he doesn't address the issue of unemployment in the country.
"Sir, please excuse me. Before I begin answering this question of dear Shri Rahul Gandhi ji. I want to condemn in no uncertain words the outlandish language that he has used against the prime minister of the country," he said reading out from a prepared note, even as Speaker Om Birla asked the minister to stick to his answer.
As Vardhan continued reading out the statement, Congress MPs came to the Well loudly protesting against the minister's move.
One of the Congress members from Tamil Nadu, Manickam Tagore, came to the treasury benches and attempted to aggressively reach Vardhan, who was sitting in the second row.
Immediately, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP member from Uttar Pradesh, held Tagore by his arm to prevent him from reaching the union minister. Singh is incidentally the President of the Wrestling Federation of India.
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Congress MP from Kerala Hibi Eden also tried to intervene.
Several MPs from both sides and union ministers, including Smriti Irani, prevented them from coming to blows.
"Guys, what are you doing. What is going on," Irani was heard saying.
Unnerved by the commotion, Vardhan continued reading his statement.
"In a recent speech, he (Gandhi) used words like 6 mahina baad, iss desh ka yuva, Narendra Modi ko dande maar maar ke desh se bahar karenge. (After six months, youth of the country would beat Modi with sticks and throw him out)," Vardhan said.
The minister said Rahul's father Rajiv Gandhi was a prime minister and even he was not targeted like this.
"I don't think in the worst of cases our party leaders have made such outlandish personal remarks against him threatening to beat him with dandas (sticks) and throwing him out of the country."
Gandhi said that "we are being stifled and we are not being allowed to speak in Parliament". "They have suppressed our voices."
"To protect him, the BJP will keep disrupting Parliament, preventing debate," the Congress leader said on Twitter
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