On Wednesday (20th December), people from the Jat community staged a protest against the Congress Party and its leader Rahul Gandhi after Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee allegedly mimicked Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Parliament premises. Gandhi who was also present at the spot could be seen using his phone to make a video of the mimicry act.
The Jat community protestors marched towards the Congress office in support of Dhankar and raised slogans against Gandhi. They also held placards demanding an apology from Gandhi and raised slogans like “Rahul Gandhi Murdabad” and “Rahul Gandhi Hosh me aao”. The video of the protest is making rounds on social media in which the enraged protesters can be seen marching towards the Congress office.
#WATCH | Delhi: Jat community holds protest march towards Congress Office in support of Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. pic.twitter.com/UPp5RAdsuB
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2023
On Tuesday (19th December), while protesting outside Parliament against the mass suspension of opposition party MPs, Banerjee appeared to mimic Dhankhar’s walking style by leaning forward and making reference to suffering a spine. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was also present at the spot, was seen recording Banerjee’s act using his phone.
Gandhi meanwhile responded to the protests and claimed that people were unnecessarily making a big issue out of the mimicry video. “MPs were sitting there, I shot their video. My video is on my phone. The media is showing it. Nobody has said anything. 150 of our MPs have been thrown out (of the House) but there is no discussion on that in the media. There is no discussion on Adani, no discussion on Rafale, no discussion on unemployment. Our MPs are disheartened and sitting outside. But you are discussing that (mimicry),” he said.
#WATCH | Mimicry row | Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, "…MPs were sitting there, I shot their video. My video is on my phone. Media is showing it…Nobody has said anything…150 of our MPs have been thrown out (of the House) but there is no discussion on that in the media.… pic.twitter.com/JivmXmWrcc
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2023
Members of the Jat community met on Wednesday (20th December) to demand an apology from Banerjee. “This meeting has been called so that either TMC MP (Kalyan Banerjee) apologises to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and also to millions of farmers across India, or we will call a bigger meeting today itself and protest against TMC,” Palam 360 Khap Pradhan, Chaudhary Surender Solanki said.
“It is unfortunate we talk about Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi, as their outlook towards the whole situation was very unprofessional and ridiculous…Our only demand is that we will not tolerate the insult of a farmer family,” he added.
Another member of the community, Sukhchain Singh, said, “Ever since the video went viral (of TMC MP mimicking Vice President Dhankar) we saw how being born in a farmer family, our Vice president was mocked by the TMC MP and MPs around him were enjoying the show.”
“This is an insult to our country’s farmers… We belong to a clan that has not forgotten its enemies for seven generations, and if all of them do not apologize to the Vice President, we will take revenge,” Singh said.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee justified himself in response to the Vice President’s mimicry incident. The TMC MP stated that he had no intention of offending the Rajya Sabha Chairman. Banerjee defended his action, calling mimicry an “art,” by citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi “doing mimicry in Lok Sabha” from 2014 to 2019.
“I have great respect for Jagdeep Dhankhar He belongs to my profession. He was our ex-governor. He is our Vice President. I just showcased a type of art. Even the PM did mimicry in the past in Lok Sabha itself. I can show it to you. We never took that seriously,” the TMC MP said. This is all after 143 opposition MPs were suspended from both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament.
Reportedly, a police complaint has also been filed on Tuesday (19th December) evening against Banerjee at the Defence Colony police station in the national capital.
