Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday described as an “insult to Jats" a video where a suspended MP appears to mimic him, using the constitutional position of his chair to give a communal spin on the events.

Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee was earlier in the day
seen in a video appearing to mimic Dhankhar. The video, which seemed to have been captured at the site on the Parliament premises where the suspended Opposition MPs are protesting, also showed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi recording Kalyan’s performance on a mobile phone. “My spine is so straight. I am so tall,” Kalyan is heard saying in the video.

Dhankhar took exception to the action of both Lok Sabha MPs.

“I have suffered, I tell you. On Instagram, Mr Chidambaram, your party put a video which was withdrawn later on. That was a shame to me. You used the official Twitter handle of the spokesperson to demean me, insult me, insult my background as a farmer, my position as a Jat, insult my position as a Chairman,” Dhankhar said from his chair, addressing the Congress veteran, who was present in the House, and other Opposition members as he adjourned the House for a second time in the day at 2pm following sloganeering.

“I have adjourned the House. You are not aware of the kind of response that is against this institution in the mind of the people and we had the occasion to see the lowest level. Mr Chidambaram is here. Mr Chidambaram, you are a very senior member. Imagine what must be going through my heart when your senior leader videographs a member of Parliament mocking the institution of Chairman, as an individual take on me,” Dhankhar added.

He said the institution of Chairman had been ravaged, and that too by a political party.

Earlier in the day while adjourning the House around noon amid protests by Opposition MPs who were demanding a statement from home minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach, Dhankhar had referred to the mimicry video. “It is shameful and unacceptable. Let the Almighty give some good sense,” he said.

Later in the afternoon, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi condemned Kalyan’s alleged mimicry and Rahul videorecording the action.

“From the beginning the Congress party has been condemning the President, who is from a tribal community. They insulted the Vice-President (Dhankhar). Senior Congress leaders questioned the visit by the Vice-President to Rajasthan when he had gone for government functions (before the Assembly elections). This shows the party’s attitude towards kisans and Jats. The INDIA alliance should apologise,” Joshi said.

Leader of the Upper House Piyush Goyal said the Jat society had condemned the act of mimicry of Dhankhar and the videography of the incident.