PM Modi Told Me He Has Been Receiving Such Insults For 20 Years: RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and expressed pain over a recent incident in which a TMC MP mimicked him.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said he received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the latter expressed pain over the TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's act of mimicking Dhankhar, the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Dhankhar said the PM told him he had been receiving "end of such insults for twenty years and counting", but termed the same happening with the Vice-President as "unfortunate".

"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 said.

"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.

President Droupadi Murmu also expressed pain over the incident. "I was dismayed to see the manner in which our respected Vice President was humiliated in the Parliament complex. Elected representatives must be free to express themselves, but their expression should be within the norms of dignity and courtesy. That has been the Parliamentary tradition we are proud of, and the People of India expect them to uphold it," the President posted on X.

Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC MP, was seen in a video shouting and gesticulating animatedly as he mimicked the Vice President on the steps outside the "Makar Dwar" of the new Parliament building. He was heard saying, "My spine is so straight, I'm so tall," as he portrayed the House proceedings in an impromptu skit. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs present there watching him burst into laughter, while Congress MP Rahul Gandhi filmed the 'performance'. 

The MPs were protesting against their suspension in Parliament. On Tuesday, 141 MPs were suspended from Parliament for disrupting proceedings.