Amid the row over TMC MP
Kalyan Banerjee's mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Parliament premises, Rajya Sabha MPs belonging to the BJP and its allies participated in the proceedings while remaining standing to express solidarity with the Chairman of the Upper House.
On Tuesday, a video from Parliament showed Banerjee derisively mimicking Jagdeep Dhankhar, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen recording it. The TMC leader was taking part in the
Opposition's protest on the stairs of
Parliament against the suspension of MPs from both the Houses.
On Wednesday, the treasury benches participated in the Question Hour proceedings while standing for around 10 minutes, PTI reported.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi were among those seen standing in the Rajya Sabha in support of the Vice President.
“In protest against the action of their party's former president (Rahul Gandhi) and your honour and honour of the Constitution, we would participate in the Question Hour while remaining standing in silence. We request your permission... We strongly condemn how Rahul Gandhi insulted you and your constitutional position. To tarnish a particular community and section of society is not right,” PTI quoted Prahlad Joshi as saying.
He went on to say that the Opposition ‘insulted’ the Prime Minister 20 years ago because he comes from a poor family and belongs to the OBC background. “Then they insulted the President of India who is a tribal. And now they have insulted the Vice President, who is a farmer's son and hails from the Jat community,” he said.
On Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended their support to the Vice President.
On social media site 'X', Jagdeep Dhankhar informed that he received a phone call from PM Modi expressing "great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday."
President Murmu also took to the micro-blogging site and wrote, "I was dismayed to see the manner in which our respected 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."
In a series of posts, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "The I.N.D.I.Alliance MPs never care for Parliament business nor are bothered about people's issues. They keep shouting slogans, carrying placards, and using unparliamentary words every day! These MPs don't believe in democracy, debate and discussion."
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani also condemned the act on social media.
A post on BJP's official handle on 'X' read, "If the country was wondering why Opposition MPs were suspended, here is the reason… TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee mocked the Honourable Vice President, while Rahul Gandhi lustily cheered him on. One can imagine how reckless and violative they have been of the House!"
Expressing deep anguish over the act, the Rajya Sabha Chairman on Wednesday said he will not tolerate any insult to Parliament and the post of vice president.
Sharing a video of him meeting Dhankhar, the Lok Sabha Speaker wrote on 'X': "Conveyed my deep concerns and anguish @VPIndia and Hon'ble Chairman, Rajyasabha about serious misdemeanour by Hon'ble MPs in Parliament complex demeaning and denigrating the constitutional office of Vice President. It is shocking that one MP chose to amplify this ignoble act by video graphing. This is a new low and no one believing in democracy will ever appreciate it."
Meanwhile, Kalyan Banerjee defended himself over the mimicry row and said, "I have never had any intention to hurt anyone...Does he really behave like this in Rajya Sabha? Mimicry was done by the PM in Lok Sabha between 2014-2019..."
Rahul Gandhi said he shot the video of MPs sitting outside the Parliament which remains on his phone, PTI reported.
Asked about making a video of the act, Rahul Gandhi told media persons, "Who insulted and how? MPs were sitting there, I took their video which remains on my phone. The media continues to show it and is making remarks, Modi ji is making remarks, nobody has said anything."
"Our 150 MPs have been thrown out and there is no discussion about that in the media... no discussion on Adani and Rafale. France has said that an investigation is not being allowed. There is no discussion on that, there is no discussion on unemployment, our MPs are sad, sitting there, you are discussing that," he added.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
