RS chair mimicry row: Kalyan Banerjee claims it is fundamental right of expression

Kolkata, Dec 25 (PTI) Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, in the eye of a storm over his mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the premises of the Parliament complex, attacked him again claiming that mimicry is a form of expression and a fundamental right.

The TMC MP, who was suspended from the Lok Sabha along with several others from both Houses, said that the right to dissent and protest is also a fundamental right.

"Right to expression is a fundamental right," Banerjee, a senior advocate, said, while addressing a programme on Sunday in his constituency Serampore.

"Mimicry is a right, an expression, it is a fundamental right," he said, asserting that nobody can "destroy" it.

Banerjee mimicked Dhankhar, who is also a senior advocate, during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament on December 19 against the suspension of MPs, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.

Rajya Sabha chairman Dhankhar termed the act as "shameful, ridiculous and unacceptable".

The Serampore MP, speaking at the programme in his constituency, accused Dhankhar of "throttling the opposition to please the ruling dispensation at the Centre".

"How much will you bend? How much do you want to please Narendra Modi and the BJP?" the TMC MP said.

Accusing Dhankhar of being engrossed with himself while adorning a constitutional position, Banerjee, shaking his hands and body in a rapid manner, said that he should look at the country instead. PTI