NEW DELHI: In a first in parliamentary history, the INDIA bloc of opposition parties Tuesday submitted a notice for the removal of vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar, who also serves as chairman of Rajya Sabha, accusing him of “partisan” conduct as the RS chair.
While the motion is unlikely to be passed, opposition members, however, downplayed the inevitability of defeat and insisted that the move was meant to be a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy“. Congress MPs Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 MPs, including those from TMC, SP, RJD, CPI, CPM, JMM, AAP and DMK, to RS secretary general P C Mody.
Condemning the move, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, “The opposition disrespects the dignity of the chair, be it in Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha… In parliamentary tradition, speakers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are our guides. We must obey whoever sits on the chair.” He stressed that NDA had a majority in the House.
Move against VP ploy by ‘rattled’ Cong to divert focus from Soros links: Rijiju
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday dubbed INDIA bloc’s move to submit a notice for the removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar as “extremely regrettable” and said the move was intended to divert focus from what he described as Congress-Soros “anti-India agenda”.
Talking to reporters, he defended the Vice President, who is also chairman of Rajya Sabha, and described him as “extremely professional and impartial”.
“The opposition disrespects the dignity of the chair, be it in Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha. We all know that in the parliamentary tradition, the speakers of both Houses are our guides. Whoever sits on the chair, we have to obey them. Congress and their alliance have continuously behaved wrongly by not following the direction of the chair,” he said.
Praising Dhankhar, Rijiju highlighted his humble background and commitment to farmers’ and public welfare both inside and outside Parliament. “He guides us. We respect him,” he added.
“I condemn the action of those 60 MPs who have signed the notice. NDA has the majority, and we all have faith in the chairman. We are happy with how he guides the House,” the minister said.
Attacking Congress, Rijiju said amid reports of “links” between George Soros and Congress leadership, along with their “combined anti-India agenda”, Congress and its allies were “rattled.”
“I think Congress leadership should apologise to the country. The entire nation is worried about this issue,” the minister said.