"Satire is part of discussion...some may like it, some may not": RLD President Jayant Singh on mimicry row
Dec 24, 2023
Bagpat (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 24 : Reacting to the mimicry incident of the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Singh on Sunday said that Satire is part of a discussion in Parliaments around the globe and it is upto the person to like it or not.
Addressing reporters in Bagpat, RLD chief Jayant Singh said, "Look at the British Parliament, mimicry happens there during the proceedings of the House. Satire is a part of a discussion. Some may like it, some may not."
He further stated that Vice President Dhankhar should not have brought up the caste angle in this incident and further added that he did not handle the situation adequately.
"Nowhere it is written in his oath that he has to bring his caste angle to benefit the ruling party. There were lapses even in his handling of the situation," he said.
The controversy erupted after suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, during the protest with other suspended MPs at Parliament's Makar Dwar, was seen mimicking Vice Presiden Jagdeep Dhankhar, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen filming the Trinamool MP using his phone.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in the recently concluded winter session 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 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," Dhankhar noted in Rajya Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also dialled Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and voiced his pain over the theatrics by a member in the 'sacred' Parliament complex, calling it 'unfortunate'.
