PM Modi speaks to VP Dhankhar, condemns ‘abject theatrics’ of Oppn MPs

Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar. (File photo)

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on December 20 said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his displeasure over an Opposition MP mimicking the Rajya Sabha chairman. However, he has assured Modi that such insults would not deter him from carrying out his duties.

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee was captured in a video on December 19, appearing to mimic Dhankhar. The video, seemingly taken at the Parliament premises where the suspended Opposition MPs were protesting, also showed senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recording Banerjee's performance on a mobile phone.

"Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji. He expressed great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday. He told me that he has been at the receiving end of such insults for twenty years and counting but the fact that it could happen to a Constitutional office like the Vice President of India and that too in the Parliament was unfortunate," Dhankhar wrote in a post on X on December 20.

Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji. He expressed great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday. He told me that he has been at the receiving end of such insults for twenty…
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) December 20, 2023

"I told him- Mr. Prime Minister, the antics of a few won't prevent me from performing my duty and upholding the principles enshrined in our Constitution. I am committed to those values from the bottom of my heart. None of the insults will make me change my path," he added.

Also read: 49 more opposition Lok Sabha MPs suspended for disrupting House

An upset Dhankhar conveyed to the Rajya Sabha that those involved in the episode had insulted not only his background as a farmer and belonging to the Jat community but also his constitutional position.

When the Upper House resumed its session at 12 noon on December 19 after the initial adjournment, it elicited a strong reaction from Dhankhar, who deemed the act "shameful".

"Mimicry of the chairman, mimicry of the speaker... how ridiculous, how shameful, how unacceptable."

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The chairman, referring to former Union Minister P Chidambaram, mentioned that the senior Congress leader can understand his anguish in the situation.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on December 19 condemned Banerjee's alleged mimicry and Gandhi video recording the action.