New Delhi: In a scathing remark to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that the leader is ‘immature and non serious’ for joining TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee’s “misdeed” as he mimicked the vice president of India while Gandhi recorded him doing so. “Rahul Gandhi is immature, non-serious and undemocratic. Whether inside the house or outside, this is shameful,” Thakur said.
He added, “Gandhi, who has been a member of the parliament for so long, has been criticised multiple times for his actions. The country will not forgive Rahul Gandhi for what he did. If an MP was into a misdeed, then he should have stopped him instead of joining him.”
Earlier this week, a viral video of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kalyan Banerjee showed him seemingly imitating Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar. The video also showed Rahul Gandhi recording Banerjee’s act.
#WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Anurag Thakur says, “Rahul Gandhi is immature, non-serious and undemocratic. Whether inside the house or outside, this is shameful… Either by his actions or his speech, he has been criticised multiple… pic.twitter.com/jUMpitoN7l
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2023
The video drew strong criticism from BJP leaders with Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemning the incident. In a tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, Dhankar said, “He (PM Modi) told me that he has been at the receiving end of such insults for twenty years and counting but the fact that it could happen to a Constitutional office like the Vice President of India and that too in the Parliament was unfortunate.
Soon after the video went viral, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said, “Just a while ago I saw on a television channel that there is no limit to how low one can stoop. Your senior leader was found shooting a video of an unparliamentary act of one of the suspended MPs, sitting out on protest… I just want to say that good sense may prevail on them.”
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, defending his action, said that he did not share the video. “Who insulted and how? MPs were sitting there, I took their video which is on my phone. Media is saying this, Modi ji is saying that but no one has said anything.”
Similarly, Kalyan Banerjee said that he considers mimicry as an “art” and that he did not intend to hurt anyone.
“I have no intention to hurt anyone. However, I have a question. Does he (Jagdeep Dhankhar) really behave like this in Rajya Sabha? Mimicry is an art and it was also done by the PM in Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019,” the TMC leader said.
In another development to the mimicry row, a Delhi-based advocate has also filed a complaint against Banerjee. The case has been transferred to the New Delhi district police.