Who is Pratap Sarangi? BJP MP suffered injury after scuffle at Parliament

Two BJP MPs including, Pratap Sarangi, suffered head injuries in a face-off between the opposition and NDA members in Parliament premises on Thursday. They were admitted to the ICU of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi. Sarangi suffered injuries on the left temple of his forehead. "Sarangi was bleeding profusely. He had a deep cut on his forehead and it had to be stitched. His blood pressure and anxiety level were high when he was brought in," a doctor said.

Who is Pratap Sarangi? 

He is a well-known BJP leader from Odisha. He is currently an MP from the Balasore constituency in the eastern state. His full name is Pratap Chandra Sarangi. The 69-year-old Sarangi was in 1955 in Gopinathpur village of Balasore district.

Sarangi was elected as an MLA from the Nilagiri constituency in Odisha, serving two terms from 2004 to 2009 and from 2009 to 2014. In 2014, Sarangi contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Balasore constituency but lost. He contested again in 2019 and emerged victorious, defeating the incumbent MP Rabindra Kumar Jena of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). He was re-elected from his current seat as MP.

Sarangi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fakir Mohan College, affiliated with Utkal University. His political journey began as a volunteer for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He later served in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. In May 2019, Mr Sarangi was appointed Union Minister of State (MoS) for the Ministry of MSME and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying.

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What happened in Parliament?

A face-off between the opposition and NDA MPs in Parliament premises over the alleged insult to BR Ambedkar left former minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi injured. The BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of pushing the senior member, a charge rejected by the Congress leader.

Trouble began when the INDIA bloc members insisted on entering Parliament through the BJP MPs holding a protest instead of using the space left empty on one side of the staircase of the Makar Dwar, used by members to enter and exit the building.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said BJP MP Mukesh Rajput was also injured in the melee. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Sarangi and Rajput and enquired about their health after they sustained injuries in the Parliament complex, sources said.