Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on December 25 once again hit out at Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar saying how much he wants to please Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“How much will you bend? How much do you want to please Narendra Modi and the BJP that you are throttling the voice of the Opposition?” the Trinamool Congress MP said addressing a public meeting at Serampore in Hooghly district on Monday. The MP, who was in the eye of storm over his mimicry of the Vice-President on the premises of the Parliament, has over the past few days targeted Mr. Dhankhar again.
“Holding a constitutional post he is only saying me and me. We cannot comprehend this,” Mr. Banerjee, also a senior advocate, said at the gathering.
The Serampore MP said right to expression was a fundamental right and mimicry was an art of expression. He had mimicked Mr. Dhankhar during the Opposition’s protest on the stairs of Parliament on December 19 against the suspension of MPs.
‘Great respect’
As his action drew condemnation and with Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee not coming to his defence, Mr. Banerjee had on December 20 said he had highest regard for Dhankhar ji. “I am having highest personal regards for Dhankhar ji. He was Ex-WB Governor & now @VPIndia. I did not have any intention to hurt the Hon’ble @RajyaSabha Chairman. I have great respect for all Constitutional posts,” Mr. Banerjee had said on social media.
However, over the past few days Mr. Kalyan Banerjee had not refrained from targeting the Vice-President.
“I will keep doing the mimicry. It is an art form. If needed, I will do it a thousand times. I have all the fundamental rights to express my views. You can put me in jail. I will not step back,” the MP had said on December 20. The Trinamool MP was also critical of Mr. Dhankhhar when he was the Governor of West Bengal from 2019-2022.
