Leader of Opposition Satyadev Katare in MP Assembly alleges he was hit by BJP MLAs

BHOPAL: Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Satyadev Katare was today admitted in a hospital after he complained of chest pain, alleging that it was the result of being punched by two BJP MLAs on the Assembly premises for raising the Vyapam issue in the House.

The BJP MLAs in question, Sudarshan Gupta and Manoj Patel, called the allegation baseless and "totally false".

"Katare experienced pain in the right side of chest when he was eating his lunch at 2 PM. He told us that BJP MLAs Gupta and Patel hit him in the Assembly premises at noon," said Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi, who took Katare to Narmada Hospital here.

Chaturvedi told PTI that doctors scanned Katare's chest to find out if he had internal injuries and the report was awaited. The sixty-year-old Congress leader had been advised to stay in the hospital under observation, he added.

The Congress spokesperson also said that Katare was going to write to the Speaker Dr Sitasharan Sharma about the misconduct of BJP MLAs, and the party wanted action against them.

"BJP won't succeed in stifling the voice of opposition over Vyapam scam," Chaturvedi said. "If we don't get positive response from the Speaker, we are going to lodge a complaint with police against the two MLAs," Chaturvedi added.

However, Sudarshan Gupta, the MLA from Indore, told PTI: "I didn't even touch Katare as I was some ten feet away. Katare's allegations are totally baseless and false."

Gupta claimed he was helping his party's women MLAs, whom Congress legislators (who were shouting slogans) had surrounded, make a safe exit when the alleged incident happened. Further, Katare was not keeping well for a long time, he claimed.