Sravasti Dasgupta 
New Delhi: Opposition MPs of the Rajya Sabha belonging to the INDIA bloc said on Wednesday (December 11) that they were left with no option but to move a notice for the removal of Vice President and House chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of “schooling” opposition members and “behaving like a spokesperson for the ruling party”.
“For the first time in history we have a vice president who openly criticises opposition parties in public forums and behaves like a spokesperson for the ruling party, sometimes even out performing them,” said Congress president and Rajya Sabha leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge while addressing a joint press conference with other MPs of the INDIA alliance in New Delhi.
On Tuesday, the INDIA bloc moved a notice to remove Dhankhar from office, citing partisan behaviour and his decisions to not allow opposition voices to be heard in the House.
Later on Tuesday evening, condemning the notice, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju defended Dhankhar, calling him “impartial”.
At the press conference on Wednesday, Kharge said that the decision to move the notice was not taken out of personal enmity but to protect the constitutional post.
“I am very sad to say that the chairman left us no option but to go ahead with this notice. In the last three years, rather than provide time and space to the opposition to raise critical issues, the chairman has resorted to schooling them and speaking down to them as though they were students in a classroom. He does not lose any opportunity to insult opposition leaders,” said Kharge.
While the BJP has alleged that the opposition is not allowing the House to function, Kharge said the chairperson was the “biggest disruption himself”.
“The biggest disruption in the Rajya Sabha is the chairman himself. He teaches a lesson to others and by interrupting others, he tries to stop the functioning of the house,” he said.
“As the custodian of the House and protector of the rights of every member, the chairman is expected to rise above politics and seek consensus and ensure voices of all members are heard.”
Kharge said that while Dhankhar rejects notices given under Rule 267 by opposition members, he then goes on to allow members of the Treasury benches to speak and “openly encourages and provokes the treasury benches to make outrageous remarks against the opposition undermining the dignity of the house.”
Kharge said that vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar (pictured here) was himself the “biggest disruption” to the Rajya Sabha. Photo: Sansad TV broadcast.
“This notice is not about personal grievances or political battles. We humbly appeal to the people of India to understand that this notice has been filed after thorough consideration and deliberation with the sole concern of protecting the constitution and parliamentary democracy,” said Kharge.
The press conference was also attended by other MPs of the INDIA alliance, including Fauzia Khan (Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar)), Manoj Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Jairam Ramesh, Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), Javed Ali Khan (Samajwadi Party), Nadimul Haque, Sagarika Ghose (Trinamool Congress), John Brittas (Communist Party of India (Marxist)) and Sandosh Kumar P (Communist Party of India).
Under Article 67(b) of the constitution, “a vice-president may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council of States passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council and agreed to by the House of the People; but no resolution for the purpose of this clause shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.”
While the notice was submitted on December 10, it is unlikely that it will come up in this session. The winter session is scheduled to end on December 20.
Speaking to The Wire, Congress MP Hussain said that if the notice is not accepted in this situation, a call will be taken on how to proceed with it.
“It is a developing situation. It is not the technicality but the spirit of the resolution,” he said.
During the press conference, other MPs of the INDIA bloc also raised concerns about how opposition members were not being heard in the House.
“This is not concerning a person but a constitutional post. It is about the blackening out of opposition voices and an effort to invisibilise the opposition. This [notice] is for the restoration of the core principles of democracy,” said RJD MP Jha.
Opposition MPs also raised concerns about Sansad TV only showing the Treasury benches and not the opposition.
“Even in the past, when the BJP was in the opposition or the Congress even, whenever the leader of the opposition rose to speak, he was allowed. But now, whenever he starts speaking, he is interrupted, his mic is switched off,” said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Tiruchi Siva.
“What is happening inside parliament people may not even know because Sansad TV only shows one side. Let the people decide if what we are doing is right or wrong. But Sansad TV only shows the Treasury side,” he added.