Dhankhar mimicry row takes centre stage

New Delhi: The controversy over a TMC MP mimicking Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar took political centre stage on Wednesday with the issue playing out both inside and outside Parliament and President Droupadi Murmu joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi in expressing dismay.

As Dhankhar, also the Rajya Sabha chairperson, said in the House that he would not tolerate any insult to Parliament or the constitutional post of vice president, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said he did not intend to hurt anyone with his act in the Parliament complex on Tuesday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee backed her party colleague, and the Congress slammed what it termed the government's "desperate attempt" to divert attention from the unprecedented suspension of 143 MPs by raising the matter.

The political row broke out after Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament on Tuesday against the suspension of MPs, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen making a video of the performance by Banerjee.

Expressing their solidarity with Dhankhar, ruling party members, including ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Nitin Gadkari, participated in Question Hour proceedings in the Rajya Sabha while remaining standing till Dhankhar urged them to take their seats after about 10 minutes.

In a rare intervention in an unfolding political debate, President Murmu said on X she was dismayed to see the manner in which the vice president was humiliated in the Parliament complex. "Elected representatives must be free to express themselves, but their expression should be within the norms of dignity and courtesy.

That has been the Parliamentary tradition we are proud of, and the People of India expect them to uphold it," Murmu said. Responding to the President's post, the Rajya Sabha chairperson thanked Murmu for her kind words and the timely reminder that basic courtesies must always remain. "I am committed to upholding Constitutional principles till my last breath. No insults can prevent me from doing so," Dhankhar posted on X. Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar expressed his anguish, saying the act of mimicking him and its videography caused an "insult" to the honour of the post of the vice president, the farmers and his Jat community. "I do not care about myself. If someone insults me, I bear it, I will swallow it. But I will never tolerate that I have not been able to protect the dignity of the post I hold. It is my duty to protect the dignity of this House, it is my duty to protect the dignity of the post," the Chairman said.

The Congress alleged the "entire Modi ecosystem" is now being galvanised on the "so-called mimicry non-issue" while it remains silent on how a BJP MP "facilitated entry of two intruders" into Lok Sabha and on the suspension of 143 MPs.

The Opposition party said a "desperate attempt" is being made to divert attention from the unprecedented suspension of MPs by raising this issue.