A Delhi-based lawyer has filed a complaint with the police against Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee for mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the Parliament complex during a protest of Opposition members against the suspension of their colleagues from the House.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen filming the incident. Reacting to it, Mr. Dhankhar had termed it an insult to his background as a Jat, his caste.
The complainant, Abhishekh Gautam, alleged that the intention behind the act was to “insult and defame” Mr. Dhankhar, his caste and his link with the farming and the legal community.
“This malicious act of the MP in connivance with other members of Parliament is not only insulting for the country but also for the legal fraternity,” the complaint said.
“I, being a citizen of this country and lawyer, felt insulted, humiliated and defamed by this act of MP Kalyan Banerjee and other members of Parliament,” he said, requesting that an FIR be lodged against the TMC leader and other MPs who were seen in a video of the act that surfaced online.
He demanded that charges of criminal intimidation, prompting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race and place of birth, and appropriate provisions of the Information and Technology Act be also included in the FIR.
Meanwhile, reacting to the incident, farmer leader Chaudhary Surender Solanki said a mahapanchayat will be held on December 24 in Delhi’s Dwarka in protest against the act of mimicry. “We won’t sit quite until they apologise,” said Mr. Solanki.
