A video of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee ridiculing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election slogan ‘abki baar 400 paar’ in the Lok Sabha went viral on Tuesday, July 2.
“They played the game with ‘abki Paar 400 paar.’ There are many games, and chu-kit-kit is one of them,” Kalyan Banerjee said.
Explaining the game, the MP from West Bengal’s Srerampur constituency noted that the slogan ‘400’ echoed loudly with ‘chu’ and concluded with ‘kit-kit’.
“You only won 240 seats and still lost that game,” he commented.
Chu-kit-kit, a popular children’s game in West Bengal, is often considered a modified version of Hopscotch. The game involves drawing nine squares inside a large triangle, where players must strike a stone while keeping their other leg off the ground.
Players start the game by loudly saying ‘chu’, and ‘kit-kit’ is pronounced more slowly.
Kalyan Banerjee’s description amused his party MPs, including Mahua Moitra and first-time MP Saayoni Ghosh.
This is the clip from the speech of @Trinamool ‘s MP Kalyan Banerjee
ये कौन से खेल के बारे में बात कर रहे हैं ? pic.twitter.com/NTqi3PZt92
— Saurabh shukla (@Saurabh_Unmute) July 2, 2024
While addressing the House, Banerjee was seen looking at fellow parliamentarians, prompting Speaker Om Birla to intervene and ask him to focus on him.
In response, Kalyan Banerjee said, “Sir, I am looking at you only… There is no one smarter in this House than you. There is no gentleman like you… Everyone looks at you only.”
On December 19, 2023, Kalyan Banerjee had mimicked Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar during the Opposition’s protest on the stairs of Parliament against the suspension of MPs, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.
His actions were met with strong disapproval from the BJP. Dhankhar had then stated in the House that he would not tolerate any disrespect to Parliament or the constitutional position of the vice president.
Banerjee later defended his actions, stating that mimicry is a form of expression and that the right to dissent and protest is fundamental.
The TMC MP, who was suspended from the Lok Sabha along with several others from both Houses, reiterated that the right to dissent and protest is a fundamental right.
Reacting to Banerjee’s comments in the House, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonwala said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “Yesterday “Hindu Hinsak Hai”; jibes at Chair by Rahul Gandhi. Now the most atrocious and disgusting comments aimed at Speaker’s Chair by Kalyan Banerjee who even mocked posture of VP Jagdeep Dhankar.”
“I agree Congress, TMC got few more seats than expected. So does that mean mock Hindus – mock Constitutional positions – make Parliament a platform for comedy? Not a word by TMC on Talibani Tajmul who was defended by TMC MLA by saying that the victim was characterless and this flogging is ok in Muslim Rashtra! Mahua Moitra laughs and claps – how many words for the victim of Tajmul? For Sandeshkhali??” he added.