A single MP’s act of mimicry in a corner of the precincts of Parliament on Tuesday has morphed into full-blown drama on the national stage.

Trinamul Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee triggered mirth and laughter with his enactment before suspended Opposition MPs on Tuesday at the Makar Dwar of the new Parliament; so much that Rahul Gandhi of the Congress requested an encore and filmed the act on his mobile camera. On Wednesday, Banerjee was reeling under a choreographed counterblast of outrage and outcry from the establishment.

Vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar saw this as an imitation of himself and condemned it on the floor of the Upper House as an “insult of Jats”. He also expressed his distress over a “senior leader” of the Congress recording the performance.

But it wasn’t to stop at that. On Wednesday morning, everyone from President Droupadi Murmu to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jat community outfits got into the act, raising cries and shedding tears at what Dhankhar had allegedly been subjected to.

President Murmu tweeted: “I was dismayed to see the manner in which our respected Vice President 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.”

Dhankhar himself went on X to say: “Received a telephone call from the Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi Ji.”

Dhankhar added: “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 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.”

Several Jat outfits demanded that Banerjee apologise.

Banerjee told reporters: “I have not said if it is Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha... If he (Dhankhar) takes it on his shoulder, I am really helpless.... I have never had any intention to hurt anyone…. It is one type of art. Mimicry has been done by the honourable PM in the Lok Sabha itself.”