New Delhi: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday alleged that women parliamentarians of his party were "manhandled" in the Lok Sabha when they were protesting in the Well of the House over the Maharashtra government formation.
Congress members jostled with the marshals in the Lok Sabha when they stormed the Well of the House carrying placards, leading to adjournment of Parliament proceedings.
"Security personnel manhandled our women parliamentarians. We have never experienced this inside Parliament. We will be waiting to see what action is been taken against responsible people," Chowdhury told reporters.
Speaker Om Birla had ordered marshals to take two Congress members — Hibi Eden and TN Prathapan — out of the House. Eden and Prathapan were holding the black banner which sported the slogan 'stop murder of democracy' while placards had messages like 'save Constitution' and 'save democracy'.
However, the two MPs were joined by other Congress members in resisting their eviction from the House and were seen jostling with marshals, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the House till 2 pm. When the House met and Question Hour began, the Congress members trooped near Speaker's podium.
The Maharashtra government formation issue rocked both houses, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying democracy was "murdered" in the state. Congress MP from Tamil Nadu Jothimani alleged that she was "manhandled".
"It is sad that Ramya Haridas and I were manhandled, we have lodged complaint with the speaker," she told reporters.
Chowdhury also said that what he saw in the House was unprecedented and Congress MPs were "pushed around".
"It is a testing time for us. We have to decide whether we let democracy or authoritarianism prevail in this country," he said.
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