Launching a volley against Rahul Gandhi for allegedly injuring two Members of Parliament from the BJP during the tussle on Thursday, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has said that “pushing around” an MP is not a sign of ‘mardangi’ (masculinity).

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Friday, the Parliamentary Affairs minister said Thursday’s incident involving Mr Gandhi, who is a Congress MP and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was “avoidable”.

The BJP has alleged that during the protest and counter-protest at one of the Parliament’s gates on Thursday over Home Minister Amit Shah’s ‘fashion’ remarks on BR Ambedkar, the Congress leader had pushed BJP MP Mukesh Rajput, who fell on fellow MP Pratap Sarangi, injuring both of them. The MPs were subsequently hospitalised.

Referring to the First Information Report registered against Mr Gandhi based on a BJP MP’s complaint, Mr Rijiju said, “There are heated exchanges in words in the Parliament. It’s been there since 1952, it’s nothing new. But when an incident leads to injury and a police case, then it’s very unfortunate. The police action is because of the injuries, which led to two MPs being admitted to hospital… It was avoidable, the Leader of Opposition should not get into physical mode.”