Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee challenges Suvendu to defeat him in Serampore

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, who drew flak from the BJP for his mimicry of the vice-president and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, has now said that mimicry is a form of expression and a fundamental right while challenging the BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari to fight him from the Serampore seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

During a protest meeting at Serampore, Banerjee said if Adhikari has the guts, he should start his poll campaign from Serampore with a photo of Jagdeep Dhankhar around his neck and fight him from the seat in the upcoming elections.

He alleged that Suvendu is only trying to remain relevant in Bengal politics with the help of leaders from outside the state. “People of Bengal will rule Bengal and not outsiders,” he remarked. Justifying his imitation of Dhankhar, Kalyan said mimicry is a form of expression and a fundamental right. He accused Dhankhar of trying to appease the BJP government at the Centre and giving too much importance to himself. He accused the Rajya Sabha chairman of “throttling the Opposition to please the ruling dispensation at the Centre”. “How much will you bend? How much do you want to please Narendra Modi and the BJP?” the TMC MP questioned alluding to Dhankhar.

Banerjee had mimicked Dhankhar, during the Opposition’s protest on the stairs of Parliament on December 19 against the suspension of MPs, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP. Rajya Sabha chairman Dhankhar termed the act as “shameful, ridiculous and unacceptable”.