"Giravat ki hadd...institution of RS Chairman ravaged": Jagdeep Dhankhar expresses anguish over mimicry incident

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday expressed his pain over suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee apparently mimicking him during a protest in Parliament premises and said it is "unacceptable" and "the institution of Chairman has been ravaged".

The Chairman, who had earlier too expressed his deep concern over the mimicry, expressed anguish when the House assembled at 2 pm following an adjournment and adjourned it till 3 pm.

"I have adjourned the House. You are not aware of the kind of response that is against this institution in the minds of the people and we had the occasion to see the lowest level," he said.

Referring to former union minister P Chidambaram who was in the House, the Chairman said the senior Congress leader can imagine his anguish.

"Mr Chidambaram you are a very senior member. Imagine what must be going through my heart when your senior leader videographs a Member of Parliament mocking the Institution of Chairman, as an individual take on me," he said, referring to Kalyan Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Kalyan Banerjee, during the protest with other suspended MPs at Parliament's Makar Dwar, was seen mimicking the Vice President while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen filming the Trinamool MP using his Phone.

"Don't take on my background as a farmer, don't take on my background as a community member. Institution of Chairman has been ravaged and that too by a political party that has gone far so long that a Member of Parliament, a senior one, videographs the other member. For what?,"the Chairman said.

"I had suffered, I tell you. On Instagram, Mr Chidambram, your party posted a video, which was withdrawn later on. That was a shame to me. You used the official Twitter handle of the spokesperson to demean me, insult me, insult my background as a farmer, my position as a Jat, and insult my position as a Chairman. These are too serious issues. Please go back to your seat," he added.

Dhankhar earlier took exception to the episode.

As the House reconvened at 12 noon after being adjourned, Dhankhar took note of the incident. "Office of Chairman, Rajya Sabha and Office of Speaker is very different. Political parties will have their cross currents, they will have exchanges, but imagine a senior leader of your party, video graphing another member of another party. Mimicry of the Chairman, mimicry of Speaker. How ridiculous, how shameful, how unacceptable."

He said it reflected a new low. "Girawat ki koi had nahi hai (there is no limit to downfall)"

"Digvijay Singhji, listen to me carefully. Few minutes ago I saw it on TV...Girawat ki koi had nahi hai, one of your big leader was making a video of the unparliamentary behaviour of an MP. He is a much bigger leader than you. All I can say is that common sense prevails. There must be a limit," Dhankar said.

The suspended MPs of the INDIA bloc parties staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue on Parliament premises in the morning.

The suspended lawmakers were joined by the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi, as they raised slogans against the Centre.

The suspended members also protested against the government at Parliament's Makar Dwar.

The protests came a day after 78 opposition MPs, from both houses, were suspended for the remainder of the ongoing 'Winter Session', for raising a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses to push for their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Parliament security breach incident.

The suspensions, combined with the 13 members removed earlier, were the largest in the history of Indian Parliament.

Forty-nine more opposition MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for 'misconduct" for the remainder of the monsoon session. The total number of MPs suspended from Parliament has now gone up to 141.