New Delhi: The opposition INDIA bloc today (December 10) moved a notice to remove Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chair Jagdeep Dhankhar from office citing partisan behaviour and his decisions to not allow opposition voices to be heard in the House.
The notice has been moved with the support of all INDIA alliance parties, sources in these parties said. The Wire had reported a day ago that the motion is being steered by the Congress, which had got 70 signatures for it. Sources said that the motion is being supported by all members of the INDIA bloc including the Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party, and Left parties.
‘Murdering parliament’
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.”
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said in a statement on X:
“ALL parties belonging to the INDIA group have had no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion against the learned Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for the extremely partisan manner in which he has been conducting the proceedings of the Council of States. It has been a very painful decision for the INDIA parties to take, but in the interests of parliamentary democracy they have had to take this step,” he wrote.
“The motion has just been submitted to the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha.”
The motion said:
“Unfortunately, his brief term has been rife with instances where Shri Jagdeep Dhankar has acted in a manner that is explicitly partisan and unfair towards members belonging to the Opposition. Since assuming office, Shri Jagdeep Dhankar has repeatedly
made disparaging comments about Members of the House belonging to Opposition Parties publically, criticizing any and every action taken by them where the Leaders have expressed issues with the functioning of the ruling Government.”
Also read: In Full: Opposition’s Notice to Bring No-Confidence Motion Against Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar
While the motion, if brought to the House, is likely to be defeated due to the number of lawmakers from the parties in the National Democratic Alliance government, the move aims to be a symbolic fight.
“This government is murdering parliament. They are scared because they do not have the answers to issues affecting common people. BJP and the govt are misusing high constitutional offices and making them subservient to executive power,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose told The Wire earlier today.
“The opposition do not have the numbers in Rajya Sabha, but this is a fight against all those who want to ruin our parliamentary system. At stake is the integrity of our parliamentary democracy itself and the solemn constitutional rights of every representative of the people,” Ghose added.
Earlier in August, a similar motion was planned by the opposition to remove Dhankhar but no notice was submitted.
‘Soros versus Adani’
The development comes as both houses of parliament were adjourned again today as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs once again raised the matter of alleged links between the Congress party and US billionaire George Soros and accused the opposition party of attempting to destabilise India. The opposition on the other hand demanded a discussion on bribery allegations against the Adani Group.
In the Rajya Sabha the issue was raised by Union minister and leader of the House, J.P. Nadda.
“The incident that we are witnessing in the country is linked to an international organisation, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). This organisation works to destabilise countries and harm their sovereignty. History is witness to this, and we all know that the issues reported by OCCRP were raised here by the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, proving that they are trying to use foreign powers as tools to bring instability to the country,” said Nadda.
The ruling party has been mentioning reports by the French outlet Mediapart on OCCRP, to level these accusations at Congress. On December 8, as reported by The Wire, the outlet condemned the BJP for “exploiting” its reporting and stated that there are “no available facts” to support allegations of a conspiracy involving the US state department, US billionaire George Soros and the Indian opposition aimed at “destabilising” the government.
Opposition benches could be heard chanting, “Adani ki dalali bandh karo (stop acting as Adani’s agents).”
‘Apologise to the House’
“The allegations are baseless, condemnable. While his allegations are baseless, what we are saying is not. A court has noted that Rs 23,000 cr has been given as bribes to the BJP. Conduct a discussion on the Adani issue and we will place our arguments. The government will also get its chance. Adani has given Rs 23,000 crore in bribes to the BJP government,” said Congress MP Pramod Tiwari.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned moments after. In the Lok Sabha too, the house was adjourned moments after proceedings started. When it reconvened at noon, The Merchants Shipping Bill, 2024 was moved for introduction. After opposition members gave their remarks to oppose the introduction of the bill, union minister for parliamentary affairs Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of colluding with “anti-India forces” amid loud protests from opposition benches.
“What is the Congress’ links with George Soros? What are your links with anti-India forces? You should apologise in the House,” said Rijiju.
The house was adjourned for the day shortly afterwards.
