New Delhi: The Opposition’s INDIA bloc moved a no-confidence motion against Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar Tuesday, shortly after both houses of Parliament descended into chaos and had to be adjourned for the day.
More than 50 parliamentarians from the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) signed the notice and handed it to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said the Opposition’s fight was with the ideology of the ruling party, but “the person sitting on the chair is far from that political party”.
He accused Dhankhar of not allowing opposition leaders to speak, while no one was stopped from the BJP. “Pramod Tiwari got up to speak but his mic was switched off after a few seconds… INDIA leaders will decide the next strategy,” he said Tuesday about the next step over the no-confidence motion.
Calls for a no-confidence vote against Dhankhar gained momentum since Monday after the BJP attacked Sonia Gandhi in the Rajya Sabha over alleged links to businessman George Soros.
The BJP accused the opposition party leaders of colluding with “foreign forces”—who they said wanted to destabilise India—and demanded Sonia Gandhi explain her role as a “co-chairperson of the Forum of Democratic Leaders in Asia-Pacific”, which is funded by the George Soros Foundation.
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the House J.P. Nadda said the FDL-AP saw Jammu and Kashmir as a “separate entity” and got financial support from the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
Saying the Congress was becoming a “tool”, the BJP chief demanded a detailed discussion as this was a matter of “internal and external security”.
As charges went back and forth in the Upper House Monday, Dhankhar allowed BJP MP Laxmikant Vajpayee to speak on the alleged Soros-Congress link. There were vehement objections from Congress MP Jairam Ramesh but Vajpaye was asked to continue.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh then accused the chairperson of favouring the treasury benches.
The bedlam in Parliament continued Tuesday with both the BJP and INDIA blaming each other for not allowing the House to function.
BJP MP Sambit Patra warned that the entire country was watching what was happening in Parliament, adding the Opposition’s “drama” was not acceptable.
He took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi too for recording a video of an Opposition protest Friday where leaders wore Gautam Adani masks. “It’s a doubtful situation whether he really wants to be the LoP or he wants to be something else. This is not the way an LoP behaves outside of the Parliament,” Patra said.
Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said after Tuesday’s logjam: “We try every day to have a discussion, but they don’t want to have a discussion.” She accused the BJP of being afraid of discussing Gautam Adani’s recent indictment by a US court over bribery charges. She also found it “strange” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not once visited Parliament in the 10 days of the Winter Session.
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Unfortunate. Presiding officers should show a little extra consideration to the Opposition, knowing how little power it exercises in parliamentary proceedings.