Who is Pratap Chandra Sarangi? BJP MP Injured After Alleged Push From Rahul Gandhi (image:x.com/pcsarangi)

New Delhi: BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi on Thursday alleged that he was injured as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, pushed another MP who allegedly fell on him, injuring his head. The incident occurred in the middle of protests between INDIA bloc and BJP MPs in front of Parliament. BJP MP who sustained head injury was subsequently taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi.

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Who is Pratap Chandra Sarangi?

BJP leader Pratap Chandra Sarangi represents Balasore Parliamentary constituency in Orissa. Before entering politics, he worked as a Head Clerk at Nilgiri College in Balasore. He began his political journey as a district-level volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and he also worked for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.

Sarangi served as the legislator of Nilagiri constituency twice – 2004 to 2009, and 2009 to 2014. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Sarangi unsuccessfully contested from the Balasore constituency. In 2019, he contested again and wrested the seat by defeating the sitting Biju Janata Dal MP Rabindra Kumar Jena by a margin of 12,956 votes. In May 2019, Sarangi got appointed as Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying.

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Sarangi is not devoid of controversies. He has been implicated for his involvement in the 1999 Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines’ murder case. Then, Sarangi was the chief of the Bajrang Dal, and a group associated with the organisation was accused of the attack. He was also arrested on the charges of rioting and damaging government property after a 2002 attack on the Orissa state assembly.