‘Why Not Discuss MPs’ Suspension, Joblessness’: Rahul Gandhi On Mimicry Row

As the row over a Trinamool Congress MP mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Rahul Gandhi recording the act continued to spiral, the Congress leader has said he had simply shot a video of the suspended MPs sitting in the Parliament complex and that the discourse is not focusing on the issues that matter. 

Asked about Mr Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP condemning the act and terming it an insult, Mr Gandhi said on Wednesday, “Who insulted whom, and how? MPs were sitting there, I took their video, which is on my phone. The media is showing something and saying something, PM Modi is making remarks… nobody has said anything.” 

On Mr Dhankhar claiming that the personal attack was an insult of his farmer background and of the Jat community to which he belongs, the Congress MP said, “They have thrown 150 of our MPs out of Parliament and there is no discussion about this in the media…. There is no discussion on unemployment. Our MPs are sitting there and are sad, and you are discussing that.” 

The Congress has also alleged that an entire ecosystem is now being galvanised on the “mimicry non-issue” while attention is being diverted from how a BJP MP allegedly “facilitated the entry of two intruders” into the Lok Sabha on December 13, the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament attack. 

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The entire Modi ecosystem now being galvanised on the so-called mimicry non-issue, while it remains silent on the real issue of why and how a BJP MP from Mysuru facilitated entry of two intruders into Lok Sabha on December 13th – who are now charged under the anti-terror law UAPA.”

“The entire ecosystem is also silent on the summary suspension of 142 MPs for making a perfectly legitimate demand,” he added,

Two more opposition MPs were suspended from the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, taking the total number to 143.

‘Disrespecting The Post’

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Vice-President Dhankhar said the mimicry by Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee and its filming by Mr Gandhi was an insult to farmers and the Jat community. Addressing senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, Mr Dhankhar had said,” Mr Chidambaram, you are a very senior member. Imagine what I felt when a senior leader of your party, an MP, was filming an act making fun of me, a personal attack.” 

“This is not just the insult of a farmer or a community, it’s disrespect to the post of Rajya Sabha chairman. And that too by a party that ruled the country for so long… I am very pained” he had said.

On Wednesday, Mr Dhankhar said PM Modi had called him and expressed pain over the incident. The Vice-President said the PM also told him that he had been at the “receiving end of such insults” for 20 years.

The BJP has also slammed the opposition over the incident and said they have repeatedly insulted people holding constitutional posts. The party and its allies also stood in the Rajya Sabha for an hour to express solidarity with Mr Dhankhar.