"PM Said Was At Receiving End Of Insults For 20 Years": Vice President

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said he had word with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after videos of his mimicry by a Trinamool MP in the parliament premises went viral.

Mr Dhankhar, who had earlier described the incident as a "personal attack", said PM Modi expressed pain over the incident and told him that he has been at the "receiving end of such insults" for 20 years.

Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji. He expressed great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday. He told me that he has been at the receiving end of such insults for twenty…

— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) December 20, 2023

"Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji. He expressed great pain over the abject theatrics of some Honourable MPs and that too in the sacred Parliament complex yesterday," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"He 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," Mr Dhankhar added.

Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee was seen mimicking the Rajya Sabha chairman outside the parliament yesterday and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was noticed filming the act. The MPs had gathered outside after many from the opposition camp were suspended following an uproar over the recent security breach.

Mr Dhankhar also shared that he told the Prime Minister such "antics" won't prevent him from performing his duties.

"I told him- Mr. Prime Minister, the antics of a few won't prevent me from performing my duty and upholding the principles enshrined in our Constitution. I am committed to those values from the bottom of my heart. None of the insults will make me change my path," he said.

Mr Dhankhar, who had been at loggerheads with the Trinamool MP's boss Mamata Banerjee when he was the West Bengal Governor, had earlier described the mimicry as an insult of his farmer family background and of the Jat community he comes from.

The BJP has latched on to the mimicry video and termed the incident a contemptible act. They have also targeted Rahul Gandhi for filming the spectacle on his phone.