NEW DELHI: The opposition led by Congress on Tuesday submitted a notice to move a motion for the removal of Rajya Sabha chairperson and vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of acting in a “partisan manner.”
The INDIA bloc managed to rally around 60 opposition MPs from parties including Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, and DMK to sign the notice, according to news agency PTI quoting sources.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh announced that the motion had been submitted to the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, saying that the opposition was compelled to take this step in the “interest of parliamentary democracy.”
“All parties belonging to the INDIA group had no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion against the Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha due to the extremely partisan manner in which he has been conducting the Council of States’ proceedings. It has been a very painful decision for the INDIA parties, but in the interests of parliamentary democracy, they were forced to act. The motion has just been submitted,” Ramesh said on X.
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The opposition’s discontent with Dhankhar stems from several issues, the latest being his decision to allow treasury bench members to raise the Congress-Soros “link” issue in the Upper House.
This development comes amid ongoing disruptions in both Houses since the start of the winter session. Proceedings were completely disrupted on Tuesday as BJP alleged Congress’s connections with George Soros, while Congress accused the BJP of shielding the Adani group. Heated exchanges led to the adjournment of both Houses for the day.
The procedure for removing the Chairman begins with a resolution moved in the Rajya Sabha. To pass, it requires approval from at least 50% of the members present, plus one, on the day of the vote. If passed, the resolution must then secure a simple majority in the Lok Sabha for final acceptance. This process is outlined in Articles 67(b), 92, and 100 of the Constitution.
INDIA bloc parties had also considered submitting a similar motion against the vice president in August this year.