Mimicry of RS chair row: Modi dials Dhankhar; case filed against TMC MP
Dhankhar said he told the PM that such ‘antics’ won’t prevent him from performing his duty and upholding the principles enshrined in the Constitution
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (December 20) telephoned Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and expressed pain over the "abject theatrics" of some MPs even as a police complaint was filed against a Trinamool Congress MP for mimicking Dhankhar.
“Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister… He expressed great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday,” the Vice President’s Secretariat said.
"He told me that he has been at the receiving end of such insults for 20 years and counting but the fact that it could happen to a Constitutional office like the Vice President and that too in Parliament was unfortunate,” Dhankhar said on X.
Dhankhar asserted that he told the prime minister that such incidents will not deter him from doing his duty.
“Mr. Prime Minister, the antics of a few won’t prevent me from performing my duty and upholding the principles enshrined in our Constitution,” he said.
“I am committed to those values from the bottom of my heart. None of the insults will make me change my path.”
Complaint against TMC MP
On Tuesday, Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee mimicked Dhankhar during an opposition protest on the stairs of Parliament against the MPs' suspension.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a video of the performance by Banerjee who appeared to mimic the way Dhankhar walked by leaning forward and made reference to having a spine.
Dhankhar told the Rajya Sabha that he was personally hurt as his farmer and Jat backgrounds were targeted.
"Imagine what must be going through my heart when your senior leader videographs a MP mocking the institution of the chairman," he said.
"...You used Twitter, the official handle of the spokesperson, to demean me, insult me, insult my background as a farmer, insult my position as a Jat, insult my position as chairman," Dhankhar said, P Chidambaram of the Congress.
Meanwhile, an advocate, Abhishek Gautam, has filed a complaint against Banerjee at the Defence Colony police station in Delhi on Tuesday evening for his mimicry of Dhankhar.
"We have forwarded (the complaint) to the New Delhi district police," a police officer said.
Gautam alleged that the video was made with an "intention to insult and defame the Vice-President of India, his caste as well as his background of farmer and as a lawyer".
He demanded that a FIR be registered under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act against the TMC MP and others seen in the video.
(With inputs from agencies)
