Chaos in Parliament over Rahul's 'danda' comment

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on young men "beating Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a danda (stick)" and the ruling BJP's condemnation set up unmitigated chaos in Parliament on Friday, with rival MPs appearing to come to blows.

"Congress MPs came to my seat in the House, tried to attack me and snatch my papers," alleged Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who raised Rahul Gandhi's comments in the Lok Sabha.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor denied it and said it was his party MP who had instead been pushed around.

It all started when Rahul Gandhi, the Congress MP from Kerala, asked a listed question on medical colleges. The Health Minister, instead of answering him, proceeded to read a statement condemning the comments he had made against the PM at a rally to campaign for the Delhi election.

"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," Harsh Vardhan said.

Speaker Om Birla asked the minister to stick to his answer but he continued to read out his statement.

As furious Congress members crowded around the Speaker's chair shouting slogans against Harsh Vardhan, a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, Manickam Tagore, walked over to the government benches and shouted at the minister, who was speaking from the second row. Some BJP MPs then appeared to be holding Tagore back.

In the midst of all this, Harsh Vardhan did not stop reading his statement. "In a recent speech, he (Gandhi) used words like six mahine baad, iss desh ka yuva, Narendra Modi ko dande maar maar ke desh se bahar karenge.

(In six months, the unemployed youth will beat Modi with sticks and throw him out). His father was prime minister too.

I don't think in the worst case our party leaders have ever made such outlandish personal remarks threatening to beat with dandas (sticks) and throwing out of the country," the Health Minister said, urging the House to condemn the comments.