New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MPs belonging to the BJP and its allies will stage a unique protest to show solidarity with Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar amid the row over his mimicry by a TMC MP. The 109 NDA members will stand in the House for an hour to express their support to the Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman, NDTV reported quoting sources.
A video of Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee mimicking the Vice-President on Parliament premises has raised a political storm. Banerjee is among the 141 Opposition MPs suspended for demanding a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach last week. On Tuesday, while protesting near Makar Dwar to the new Parliament building, the Serampore MP started mimicking the Vice-President. Other MPs were seen laughing as Banerjee imitated the VP’s gestures. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen filming the act.
Soon after, Dhankhar said in Rajya Sabha that he had seen the video and was “deeply pained”. Addressing senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, he said, “Imagine what I felt when a senior leader of your party, an MP, was filming an act making fun of me, a personal attack.”
“This is not just the insult of a farmer or a community, it’s disrespect to the post of Rajya Sabha chairman. And that too by a party that ruled the country for so long,” he said. The Congress’s official Instagram handle, he said, had posted the video, but later took it down. “This is shameful. You used an official handle to humiliate me for my farmer background, to humiliate me as a Jat, to humiliate my position. This is very serious,” Dhankhar said.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on Wednesday stated that “mimicry is an art” to defend his mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar outside the parliament, and said he has high respect for him.
“I have no intention to hurt anyone. Mimicry is an art. Have high respect for me (Jagdeep) Dhankhar,” Banerjee said.
