“Ridiculous, shameful and unacceptable”, Jadgeep Dhankhar condemns TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee’s mimicry of him

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. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was purportedly filming Kalyan Banerjee’s gesticulations on his mobile phone. Jagdeep Dhankhar termed Kalyan Banerjee’s impromptu skit that drew the laughter of the other suspended MPs as “ridiculous and unacceptable.”

After the house resumed its proceedings at noon, Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed his disapproval of Kalyan Banerjee’s skit. Moreover, he highlighted senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s role in the mock parliament held by the protesting MPs. "Office of Chairman, Rajya Sabha and Office of Speaker is very different. Political parties will have their cross currents, they will have exchanges, but imagine a senior leader of your party, video graphing another member of another party…Mimicry of the Chairman, mimicry of Speaker. How ridiculous, how shameful, how unacceptable," said Jagdeep Dhankhar. Following this, he adjourned the proceedings of the house till 2 pm.

 Earlier today, as many as 49 Opposition MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha for alleged “serious misconduct” for the remainder of the winter session of the Parliament. The Parliament resumed to a rocky start with massive protests from the Opposition in both houses, over their demand for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach. The fresh round of suspension comes after 78 Opposition MPs from both houses were collectively suspended, and earlier this week, 14 MPs were suspended. The series of mass suspensions has taken the tally up to a staggering 141 MPs suspended in a single session, the highest in the history of the Indian Parliament.

The suspended Members of Parliament of the INDIA bloc organized a demonstration before the Gandhi statue on the Parliament premises. Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, joined the suspended lawmakers as they chanted slogans against the Central government. In addition, they expressed their grievances towards the government at Parliament's Makar Dwar.