New Delhi: Seeking to score a political point after the suspension of over 140 MPs, the BJP sought to pin down the Opposition over the mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar by TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, in addition to raising a point around caste.
While PM Modi called Dhankhar, and President Murmu sent out a tweet in support, the BJP also sought to attack the Opposition over their treatment of a Jat man. Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi also said that the Opposition had also attacked PM Modi earlier who he described as a “poor” man from the OBC community.
In a post on X, Dhankhar said he received a call from PM Modi who “expressed extreme grief” over the “outrageous theatrics” by some MPs in Parliament. “He told me that he has been enduring such insults for the last twenty years, but with a constitutional post like the V-P of the country, and that too in the Parliament, it is unfortunate that this happens,” Dhankhar posted, adding that he told the PM that these acts stop him from carrying his duty.
President Murmu also sent out her support, and in a post, said he was “dismayed” to see that the V-P 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.
Dhankhar also mentioned his caste and farmer background. “(This is an) insult to my background as a farmer, insult my position as a Jat, insult my position as chairman,” Dhankhar said in the House.
With the Jats angry in Haryana over the farmers’ agitation ahead of the LS polls as well as the upcoming Assembly elections, the BJP’s positioning of Dhankhar’s identity could benefit it. Already, the Jat Association sent out a post in support of Dhankhar. “V-P…, and the pride of Jat community Jagdeep Dhankhar has been ridiculed by Congress; the Jat community will definitely take account of this mockery in the coming LS elections,” a post by the Association read.
(Published 20 December 2023, 22:23 IST)