NEW DELHI: A joint move against the Rajya Sabha chairman has put the INDIA bloc back together. The turbulent relations between Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Opposition members of the INDIA bloc came to a head on Monday, with the opposition camp considering submitting a notice “very soon” for moving a resolution to remove the vice president, who also serves as chairman of the Upper House from his office, according to sources.
While the move may fail to remove him from the chair as the numbers are not stacked in favour of the opposition parties, it would be the first ever attempt to remove the VP, in India’s parliamentary history, and would be seen as a blemish to the chair.
The opposition sources confirmed that they had the “required number of signatures” from all the INDIA bloc parties, when the move was first planned in August during the Monsoon session, but they did not move on it, as they decided to give Dhankhar “another chance but his conduct on Monday” convinced them to go ahead with the plan.
The sources said Congress had taken the lead on the issue and TMC and the Samajwadi Party, besides other INDIA bloc parties, were supportive of the move. “This is not about the Chair, it is about BJP,” a TMC source said, when asked about the joint move.
In August, sources said opposition parties were concerned that the microphone of the leader of opposition was allegedly being turned off repeatedly. “The opposition wants the House to be run by rules and conventions, and personal remarks against members are unacceptable,” a source said.
The procedure for removal of the chairman has to begin with a resolution moved in the upper House to remove the vice-president, who acts in his dual role as chairman of Rajya Sabha. The resolution must be passed by 50% of the members present, plus one member, of those present in the House on that day. If the resolution gets passed, it has to go to Lok Sabha to be passed by a simple majority for it to get accepted, explained a senior RS MP. This procedure follows from Articles 67 (b), 92 and 100 of the Constitution.
The move, on Monday, comes in the backdrop of Rajya Sabha witnessing chaotic scenes as the BJP MPs alleged top Congress leadership has links with George Soros and that the issue be discussed as it is connected to national security.
While Dhankhar had rejected all notices under rule 267, several BJP and NDA MPs continued to demand an immediate discussion on it. Congress MPs claimed this was being done to divert attention from the Adani issue.
Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MPs Jairam Ramesh and Pramod Tiwari asked how the chairman was allowing BJP MPs to raise the issue when he had rejected their notices in this regard. Laxmikant Bajpayee (BJP) was given the floor to raise his Zero Hour mention and he started speaking on national security.
Later Ramesh alleged, “the opposition wants the Parliament to function. In the last 2 to 3 days it has become clear that the govt does not want the House to function…What I saw in Rajya Sabha today was unbelievable. The LOP was not allowed and the leader of house was given number of chances to speak,” while speaking to the media.
Pointing out that it is for the first time that government — BJP MPs were issuing Rule 267 notices for discussion, which is a weapon in the hands of the opposition to raise issues. “Today’s strategy of the ruling party was clear that both Houses of Parliament should not function. Now we wonder if the govt is running away from the discussion on the Constitution scheduled for December 13 and 14 in Lok Sabha and 16 and 17 in Rajya Sabha,” Ramesh alleged.
The Opposition parties planned to raise all the issues that they had planned for to take on the govt, to be brought as part of the discussion for the Constitution.
