Once again, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee impersonates Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in Bengal

The scandal surrounding Kalyan Banerjee seemed to be never-ending, as the suspended Trinamool Congress MP imitated Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar once again. A major political uproar occurred last week when Congressman Rahul Gandhi was discovered photographing the TMC leader on his phone while Kalyan Banerjee was seen imitating Vice President Dhankhar during the protest with other suspended MPs at Parliament’s Makar Dwar.

Speaking to the media, MP Kalyan Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is suspended. (PTI data)
Feeling hurt by the episode, Jagdeep Dhankhar remarked that the opposition members had denigrated his role as India’s vice president. Additionally, Dhankhar said that it was a slight to his Jat heritage, his caste, and his farming family.
Speaking on Saturday at an event in Serampore, West Bengal, Kalyan Banerjee allegedly said that he will keep imitating Dhankhar, referring to it as an “art form”. According to India Today, Banerjee went on to say that he had the constitutional right to do so and that he would do it a thousand times.

“I’ll continue to imitate. It’s a kind of art. I’ll do it a thousand times if necessary. I can voice my opinions since I have all the essential rights. You are able to imprison me. I refuse to back down,” Banerjee was reported by India Today as stating.

Dhankhar was also chastised by the TMC MP for being agitated over a “trivial issue.”

According to reports, Banerjee first picked up imitation from the Prime Minister during a Parliamentary session. Next, from Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of finance. “We handled them with grace. Banerjee mockingly said, “Now if he starts crying without understanding the joke, there is nothing I can do… Dhankhar cried like a child.”

Kalyan Banerjee and his history of divisive comments
The 66-year-old Kalyan Banerjee is no stranger to controversy; he has a lengthy history of making divisive statements directed at his opponents. The political controversy started when Banerjee imitated Dhankhar at the opposition’s Tuesday demonstration against the suspension of MPs on the steps of Parliament.

The BJP, which is in power, harshly criticized the action. The debate centered on Banerjee’s imitation of Dhankhar and resonated both within and outside of Parliament.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu expressed shock at the occurrence. Dhankhar, who chairs the Rajya Sabha, said in the House that he would not put up with any disrespect for the vice presidential position or Parliament.

at response, Banerjee made it clear that his actions on Tuesday at the Parliament complex were not intended to do damage to anybody. Due to his history of disparaging statements made against Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the lawyer-turned-politician has been dubbed a “loose cannon” by rival politicians. This is because he was the governor of West Bengal when Dhankhar was appointed.

Banerjee, a law graduate and student politician by baptism, has been a devoted follower of Mamata Banerjee. In 2001, he was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the first time. Banerjee, a three-term member of parliament representing Serampore Lok Sabha, initially came to notice in 2009 when she criticized then-President Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s attendance at Nandan, the city’s cultural center.

When the TMC withdrew its backing from the Congress-led UPA administration in 2012, Banerjee and then-Union minister Anand Sharma got into a verbal altercation over whether or not to permit foreign direct investment (FDI).

Four years later, Banerjee made some divisive comments about Modi in the midst of anti-demonetization demonstrations outside the Reserve Bank of India headquarters in Kolkata, which drew considerable criticism.

Months before the assembly elections in January 2021, Banerjee sparked controversy by comparing the Hathras event in Uttar Pradesh to both Goddess Sita and Lord Ram. The BJP and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) strongly condemned Banerjee and demanded his immediate arrest for allegedly offending religious feelings.

There were several disagreements between Dhankhar and the state administration when he was the governor of West Bengal. Banerjee and other politicians led demonstrations against the Raj Bhavan on many occasions. He even advised TMC members to report Dhankhar to the police, implying that after he leaves office as the state’s governor, legal action would be taken.