Desperate attempt being made to divert attention from MPs' suspension: Congress

Jairam Ramesh. Pic/PTI

The Congress on Wednesday hit back at the BJP for its criticism of a TMC leader's mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, saying a "desperate attempt" is being made to divert attention from the unprecedented suspension of over 140 MPs by raising this issue, reported news agency PTI.

The Congress' attack came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Vice President Dhankhar and expressed great pain over the "abject theatrics" of some MPs in Parliament complex, the Vice President's office said.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "A desperate attempt is being made to divert attention away from the unprecedented suspension of 142 MPs by raising the issue of 'mimicry'."

"Remember who mimicked whom and that too in the Lok Sabha?" Jairam Ramesh said and shared a video clip of Prime Minister Modi's speech in Lok Sabha after Rahul Gandhi had hugged him in 2018.

A political row broke out on Tuesday after Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament against the MPs' suspension, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.

The BJP also attacked the opposition over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi making a video of the performance by Banerjee.

As many as 49 more opposition lawmakers were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for unruly behaviour, taking the total number of MPs facing action in both Houses of Parliament to 141 and prompting the INDIA coalition to announce nationwide anti-government protests on Friday.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday charged that the prime minister and the BJP want to establish a "single party rule" in the country and the suspension of MPs from Parliament is for that, reported PTI.

While 141 MPs have been suspended because they wanted a statement from the home minister on the grave security breach in Parliament, the BJP MP who facilitated the entry of the intruders, remains scot-free and has not yet been questioned, the Congress leader said, reported PTI.

"What sort of an investigation is this," he asked in a statement posted on X.

"Why haven't senior officers responsible for Parliamentary security made accountable? Heads should have rolled by now," he said.

Mallikarjun Kharge said apparently the intruders have been planning this since months and asked who is responsible for this massive intelligence failure, reported PTI.

Given the multi-layered security of Parliament, how did two intruders manage to hide yellow gas canisters in their shoes and enter the building and almost reach the sanctum sanctorum of India's democracy, the Congress chief wondered, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)