Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee brushed off the huge political row over mimicry today, dubbing it “casually political”.

Asked to comment on the matter in Delhi today, Ms Banerjee said, “We respect everyone. This is not about disrespect. This is just casually political… Had Rahul (Gandhi) not taken a cellphone video, you would not have come to know about it even”.  

Ms Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has been in the eye of the storm since her party’s MP Kalyan Banerjee was seen outside parliament mimicking Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice -President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Mr Gandhi faced BJP criticism for filming the moment on his cellphone.

Minutes earlier, around 100 Opposition MPs were suspended in both houses of parliament for their vocal demand that Union Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement on last week’s unprecedented security breach.

With the suspensions coming for the second day in a row, the Opposition was fuming.

The BJP has been livid since, and accused the Opposition of having no respect for constitutional positions. Today Mr Dhankhar said: “I don’t care about how much you insult Jagdeep Dhankhar. But I can’t tolerate (insult of) Vice President of India, farmers community, my community… I will not tolerate that I could not protect the dignity of my post, it is my duty to protect the dignity of this House.”

The Congress is fighting tooth and nail.

Senior party leader Randeep Surjewala, in a long post on social media, cited multiple instances where the BJP has “insulted” the constitution, farmers, their daughters who were wrestlers, and their relatives who are in the army.

➡️ विपक्ष मुक्त संसद संविधान का अपमान है।
➡️ विपक्ष मुक्त संसद प्रजातंत्र का गला घोंटता है।
➡️ विपक्ष मुक्त संसद संसदीय मर्यादा का हनन है।

1. जब किसान आंदोलन में राजस्थान-हरियाणा-पंजाब व देश के किसानों को मोदी सरकार के लोग उग्रवादी-नक्सलवादी-अराजक तत्व बता रहे तो क्या वो किसान… pic.twitter.com/T0l0ukJbqE

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) December 20, 2023

“The dignity of the post does not come from caste but from the sense of duty. When the government itself is attacking the Constitution, then opposing it is true patriotism. Jai Hind!” his post read.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called the Enforcement Directorate summons, in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, illegal and politically motivated, Aam Aadmi Party sources said. In his reply to the probe agency, Mr Kejriwal said that he has lived his life through transparency and honesty and has nothing to hide.

Mr Kejriwal, called to join the agency’s probe on Thursday, left on a 10-day meditation retreat to an undisclosed location, the same sources said. The Aam Aadmi Party leader was first summoned on November 2, but he snubbed that call, opting instead to campaign for the Madhya Pradesh election.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday questioned the timing of the summons, saying the party’s lawyers are studying the notice and “legally correct” steps will be taken.

They said Arvind Kejriwal’s Vipassana session was “pre-scheduled” and the information was in the public domain.

“Everyone knows the chief minister is leaving for Vipassana on December 19. He regularly goes for this meditation course. It’s a pre-scheduled and pre-announced plan,” AAP MP Raghav Chadha had said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and the party’s leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury are among opposition leaders invited to the grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda have also reportedly received invites from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

The senior Congress leaders are unlikely to attend the ceremony, according to reports.

The invites were delivered by a delegation from the Trust, the Press Trust of India reports, quoting sources, and more opposition leaders are likely to be invited in the next few days.

Heads of political parties are likely to be invited to the Ram temple event, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Arvind Kejiwal, BSP leader Mayawati, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and CPI’s D Raja.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat are expected to speak at the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, the first big event at the complex being built at the cost of Rs 1,800 crore.

A few days ago, the temple trust said BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who were at the forefront of the Ram temple movement in the 1990s, had been requested to skip the event because of their health and age.

A day later, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said they both had been invited and would make “every effort” to join the ceremony.

The temple Trust has also invited saints, scientists, army officers, Padma awardees, industrialists, the Dalai Lama, and other eminent personalities from various fields.

A Tent City has been set up along with a hospital where 150 doctors from across the country will work on rotation.

A series of rituals like bathing the deity and a procession to major temples in Ayodhya will precede the ceremony.