'Mimicry of VP reduces dignity of Constitutional post but MP's suspension is unfair'

NEW DELHI: Former Law and Justice Minister Ashwani Kumar has said that the mimicry of the Vice President reduces the dignity of the constitutional post and added that the suspension of MPs from Parliament is unfair.

This came after Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday took exception to Trinamool Congress' suspended MP Kalyan Banerjee mimicking him during a protest in Parliament premises, saying that the mimicry is 'ridiculous' and 'unacceptable'.

Earlier, 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. Speaking on the mimicry of the Vice President and the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Ashwani Kumar said, "Mimicry sometimes takes an art form and sometimes takes another form. If the Vice President is hurt by this mimicry, it is his own experience. But the main issue is not this, the issue is whether we can suspend members of Parliament for this. I believe this is unfair."

While talking to ANI Ashwani Kumar said, "I believe that the kind of mimicry that has been done about the Vice President should not have happened. This reduces the prestige of the post of Vice President and if the prestige of any constitutional post is reduced, then you can assume that the democracy of our Constitution is affected."

"I would also say that even if something like this has happened, it does not mean that you should suspend the members of the Parliament. This is a huge step and any MP has the right to present his/her point of view in Parliament. If you start expelling such MPs then it is playing with democracy, and this should not happen.

This is not the correct procedure at all. When another party comes to power, it will also do the same. When the Parliament is completely abolished then it is impossible to talk about democracy in the country. I believe that the expulsion of the MPs is not justified at all," the former Law Minister added.

A total of 143 MPs--97 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha--have been suspended so far for creating a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses, demanding a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah about the Parliament security breach incident.