Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Parliament was on Friday adjourned a day before schedule, amid escalating hostility between Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, with the latter mulling the initiation of a process to impeach Dhankhar.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, which started on July 22, were adjourned sine die on Friday after passing the Budget, which attracted criticism from the Opposition, and after the introduction of a controversial bill to amend Waqf laws that was referred to a joint committee. The session was scheduled to conclude on August 12.
I.N.D.I.A. bloc sources said they had already collected the signatures of over 60 of 87 I.N.D.I.A. MPs, including a number of floor leaders, on a three-page notice against Dhankhar, a move that gathered pace after an acrimonious exchange between the Chairman and Opposition in Rajya Sabha over certain remarks made by a BJP MP against Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge.
A call on when to move the notice has not been taken at present with top leaders claiming that they had “informally informed” Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and BJP president J P Nadda a couple of days ago that they “haven’t done it yet but are thinking about it” because of their objections on the way the proceedings are conducted.
Opposition MPs have accused Dhankhar of ignoring their demands and claimed that he leans towards the government but the Chairman on Friday rejected allegations in the House saying, “I have my own script. I am not operated by anyone else.” NDA parties condemned the behaviour of I.N.D.I.A. MPs, with senior leaders speaking in support of Dhankhar.
Sources said the I.N.D.I.A. parties initially decided that floor leaders would not sign the impeachment notice but the CPI(M) and CPI argued that there should not be any exception as it is a “serious” matter. However, they decided to leave it to Kharge to decide on whether to sign or not as he holds a Constitutional position.
The trigger for the Opposition to speed up its plans to submit an impeachment notice came in the Rajya Sabha at the start of Question Hour when Kharge spoke about BJP MP Ghanshyam Tewari’s remarks about him earlier.
There were demands that Tewari should inform the House about what transpired when he met Kharge and Dhankhar in the latter’s chamber, while the Chairman said the BJP MP had actually praised the LoP.
While Opposition MPs wanted Tewari to talk about it in the House, Dhankhar did not allow Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh to raise the issue again while giving opportunities to DMK's Tiruchi Siva and SP’s Jaya Bachchan to speak. Both referred to the tone and tenor of Tewari's speech, indicating that his tone was indeed objectionable.
Jaya also raised objections about Dhankhar when she said, “I am an artist. I understand body language and expressions. Forgive me but your tone is not acceptable. We are colleagues…”
To this, Dhankhar said, "Enough of it … you may be anybody, you may be a celebrity, you have to understand the decorum ... Never carry an impression that only you build reputations ... we live up to reputations.” These remarks angered the Opposition MPs, including former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who walked out raising slogans.
Dhankhar accused the Opposition of wanting to "destabilise the entire nation … to create chaos" in the House. "I shall not be party to this. This House is being converted as an epicentre of disturbance. You are determined to have your way at the cost of the Constitution."
NDA parties rallied behind the Chairman, with Nadda saying the whole country stands behind Dhankhar while terming the Opposition’s behaviour as “highly indecent and irresponsible”. BJD and BRS MPs urged the government to talk to the Opposition and resolve the issue.