NDA MPs stand in solidarity with Vice President Dhankhar, condemn TMC MP’s Mimicry

BJP Rajya Sabha MPs conveyed their solidarity with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and staged a protest condemning TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee’s mimicry of the Rajya Sabha Speaker. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced that members of the NDA would stand in the House for an hour as a gesture of support on Wednesday.

"We strongly condemn this. They are crossing all limits. They are repeatedly insulting people on constitutional posts. They have been insulting the Prime Minister for 20 years because he comes from a humble background and the OBC community. They insulted the President because she is a tribal woman. You are a farmer's son. For the first time, someone from the Jat community became Vice-President. They have insulted this post. We are making it clear, we will not tolerate the insult of the Vice-President and the Constitution," said Prahlad Joshi, calling out the Opposition MPs who staged a mock Parliament at the Makar Dwar, protesting against the serial suspension of MPs. "So, in your honour and to protest against them, we will stand and participate in the question and answer session,” added Joshi.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Jagdeep Dhakhar over a phone call and conveyed profound concern and strong disapproval regarding the reported disrespectful conduct exhibited by the Opposition MPs. “Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji. He expressed great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday. He told me that he has been at the receiving end of such insults for twenty years and counting but the fact that it could happen to a Constitutional office like the Vice President of India and that too in the Parliament was unfortunate. I told him- Mr. Prime Minister, the antics of a few won’t prevent me from performing my duty and upholding the principles enshrined in our Constitution,” posted Dhankhar on the social media platform “X”.

The President of India also came out in support of the Vice President and she said that she was “dismayed” to see how the Vice President was “humiliated in the Parliament complex.”

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee was seen mimicking Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar during a protest with the other suspended MPs at the Parliament’s Makar Dwar on Tuesday, Banerjee’s skit stoked a massive controversy. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was purportedly filming Kalyan Banerjee’s gesticulations on his mobile phone, and that garnered the ire of several BJP MPs. The Opposition resorted to protesting on Tuesday after as many as 49 Opposition MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday for alleged “serious misconduct” for the remainder of the winter session of the Parliament. The fresh round of suspensions in the series took the total to 141 suspended Opposition MPs, the highest in the history of the Indian Parliament.