'What's wrong?': Kapil Sibal backs Rahul Gandhi over Kalyan Banerjee-Dhankhar mimicry row. Then adds…
Kalyan Banerjee mimics Jagdeep Dhankhar: Raya Sabha Chairman slammed Rahul Gandhi for recording TMC MP's mimicry during Parliament's winter session.
Reacting to Kalyan Banerjee and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar controversy over a mimicry by the suspended Trinamool Congress MP, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday backed Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi who was seen recording the act on his mobile phone on the Parliament premises during the winter session recently.
Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha Chairman, and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have slammed Rahul Gandhi for recording Kalyan Banerjee's mimicry who, according to them, insulted the vice-president.
“What's wrong in making a video? He (Rahul Gandhi) did not use himself as a platform to further the video,” news agency ANI quoted Kapil Sibal as saying.
While Sibal defended the leader of his former party, he clarified that had he been there, he wouldn't have done anything like that. “But the one mimicking should have thought about it,” Sibal said in an indirect reference to Banerjee.
"This is not a political issue because the extent to which constitutional posts are being defamed is alarming," the Rajya Sabha MP added.
Kalyan Banerjee mocks Jagdeep Dhankhar again
Sibal's comments come even as the TMC leader once again mimicked Dhankhar on Saturday, claiming that he would continue to do so.
A huge political erupted last week after Kalyan Banerjee, during the protest with other suspended MPs at Parliament's Makar Dwar, was seen mimicking Dhankhar.
Upset over the incident, Dhankhar expressed his pain and said his position as the Vice President of India has been insulted by the opposition members. Dhankhar also claimed it was an insult to his background as a Jat, his caste, and as someone who comes from a family of farmers.
Speaking at an event in West Bengal's Serampore on Saturday, Banerjee reportedly claimed that he would continue to mimic Dhankhar, terming it as an “art form”. Banerjee added that he would do it a thousand times and that he had a fundamental right to do so, India Today reported.
"I will keep doing the mimicry. It is an art form. If needed, I will do it a thousand times. I have all the fundamental rights to express my views. You can put me in jail. I will not step back," India Today quoted Banerjee as saying.
The TMC MP also criticised Dhankhar for getting upset over a “trivial issue”.
Banerjee reportedly claimed that he first learned mimicry from the Prime Minister in Parliament. Then from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We took them sportingly. Now if he starts crying without understanding the joke, there is nothing I can do...,” Banerjee said, mocking that “Dhankhar cried like a child”.