Explainers
Mimicking VP and more: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's many controversies
Kalyan Banerjee was seen mocking Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar outside Parliament on Tuesday. The three-time TMC MP from Serampore has a long history of making outrageous remarks. He once referred to Nirmala Sitharaman as ‘black snake’
FP Explainers December 19, 2023 17:09:17 IST 
File image of Kalyan Banerjee. News18
A new controversy has sprung up as Parliament continues its stormy Winter Session.
Kalyan Banerjee, a suspended Lok Sabha MP from the TMC, mocked Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar outside Parliament.
This as the other House members including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi laughed and took videos.
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But what happened exactly? Who is Banerjee? And what are some of his past controversies?
Let’s take a closer look:
What happened?
On Tuesday, Banerjee was seen mimicking Dhankhar, the Rajya Sabha Chairman, outside Parliament.
This came amid protests by Opposition MPs against mass suspensions from Parliament.
Videos of the incident show Rahul filming Banerjee on his mobile as the suspended MPs laugh uproariously.
As per NDTV, Banerjee can be heard remarking, “My spine is so straight, I’m so tall.”
Dhankhar condemned the act as ‘shameful and unacceptable.’
“Office of Chairman, Rajya Sabha and Office of Speaker is very different. Political parties will have their cross currents, they will have exchanges, but imagine a senior leader of your party, video graphing another member of another party,” Dhankhar said.
“Mimicry of the Chairman, mimicry of Speaker. How ridiculous, how shameful, how unacceptable,” he added.
Who is Banerjee?
Banerjee is the three-time TMC MP from Serampore.
The 66-year-old was born on 4 January, 1957 to Bholanath and Sibhani Banerjee.
He is a B.Com graduate from University of Burdwan (1972-1974.)
He also has an LLB From University of Ranchi.
His spouse’s name is Chhabi Banerjee.
They have a son and a daughter.
He has no criminal cases against him.
What are some of his controversies?
Banerjee has been a lightning rod for quite some time.
In 2022, 157 lawyers of the Calcutta High Court penned a letter to then CJI NV Ramana, then Calcutta HC chief justice Prakash Shrivastava, and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee accusing Banerjee of ‘misconduct’, as per The Print.
The letter accused Banerjee of “insulting women lawyers”, giving “undue privilege to some in exchange for unexplainable favours”, and “misusing his political power”.
“Sri Bandopadhyay (sic) has tried to get over and above the law as well as people due to his close proximity to the powers of the state. People are forced to pay heed to his demands and illegal dictates as he knows very well how to use his position of power to exploit people,” the two-page letter stated, as per the outlet.
“There have been numerous instances where certain lady lawyers have been given undue preferences over deserving lawyers in exchange for unexplainable favours. Other female lawyers have also complained of Sri Bandopadhyay’s behaviour and stated that his approach towards them has been dishonourable and depraved,” it added.
“Sita told lord Ram that it was luck that she got abdicated by Ravana. If I had been kidnapped by your followers, who wrap saffron on their foreheads and shout Jai Shri Ram, my condition would have been like the Hathras victim,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee in 2020 called then finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman a ‘venomous black snake’ and claimed she was India’s worst finance minister ever.
“Just like people die by the bite of a black snake, the people of India are dying because they are bitten by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She is an extremely haughty woman but I think she should be ashamed of herself because she is completely destroying India’s economy,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by India Today.
“She should resign from her post and go back to her native state Andhra Pradesh. If there could be any name for the worst and the most useless finance minister in the world, it would be Nirmala Sitharaman’s,” he added.
Banerjee also attacked the BJP’s Dilip Ghosh.
“We are not afraid of Dilip Ghosh. Let him tell BJP leaders that we are not sitting at home wearing bangles, we are strong and we will meet in the field. If you want to fight physically, we won’t step back. We will give you appropriate answers to all the dirty politics you are playing.”
“I will silence Dilip Ghosh and I want to see how brave he is. A person like Dilip Ghosh, who needs 18 security guards, should not wear men’s clothes, they should wear saree instead. Even people who wear saree are stronger than him,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee in 2017 called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘a rat’ during a protest meeting in front of the RBI regional headquarters in Kolkata.
“Modi’s supporters call him a lion. But I say time is not far when Modi will have to return to his hole in Gujarat…” Banerjee was quoted as saying by News18.
As per The Times of India, Banerjee in 2012 had an ugly spat with then commerce minister Anand Sharma inside the Lok Sabha over Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Banerjee told Sharma that, “After two years when you are not a minister, nobody will even look at you… what do you think of yourself… who are you to tell us what we should do.”
To which Sharma responded, “Whether I understand the country or not, you ascertain that from your leader Mamata Banerjee who has worked with me as a colleague. She would know.”
“I don’t want to join issues with him. It is unfortunate. He was offensive and less than civilised,” Sharma added later.
In 2011, Banerjee even had a run-in with Mamata herself over the Lokpal and Lokayukta bills.
It remains to be seen if Banerjee will mend his ways.
With inputs from agencies
