If women can use pepper spray for self-defence why can't I, asks L Rajagopal

Expelled Congress MP, L Rajagopal, who sprayed pepper spray in Lok Sabha today when the Telangana Bill was tabled by the government defended his actions saying he had used it in self defence and to protect a fellow MP. “If women can use it to defend themselves, then why can’t I used it to defend myself?” Rajagopal said.[caption id=“attachment_1388875” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lagadapati Rajagopal. PTI[/caption] Rajagopal, who was taken away from Parliament to receive treatment, alleged that he had used the pepper spray in self defence when he saw a fellow Telugu Desam Party MP being attacked by Congress MPs. “I used it when I saw the TDP MP being attacked” Rajagopal said. The Lok Sabha MP said that he always carried a canister of pepper spray in his pocket for self defence and on this occasion he used it only in self defence. “Pepper spray is not an offensive but a defensive weapon. I used it to protect myself against a mob attack,” he told CNN-IBN. “The entire Congress leadership has to take the responsibility. I never hit anyone. I did it to dispel everyone around me,” the MP said. He also criticised the decision of the Speaker of the House to suspend him and other MPs for disrupting proceedings. “If I am suspended, then all the Congress MPs should be suspended,” he said. When asked if he would use the tool again if he was required to, Rajagopal said he would use it in any setting. “Pepper spray is a legal defence tool… Even if someone attacks me here I will use it,” Rajagopal said.