In a first, parties of the opposition INDIA bloc spearheaded by the Congress on Tuesday submitted a notice in the Rajya Sabha for moving a no-confidence motion against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of being “extremely partisan” in his role as the Chairman of the Upper House.
If the motion seeking Dhankhar’s removal is moved, these parties need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House. Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy”.
Noting that the role of the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha is of pivotal importance, the Opposition parties said Dhankhar is expected to conduct himself in a non-partisan manner but has instead reduced “the prestige of the position he presently occupies to that of a mere spokesman for the Government of the day”.
On behalf of the Opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 opposition MPs — including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party — to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody. The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha’s ex-officio Chairman.
Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju dubbed the Opposition move as “extremely regrettable” and said the government is very proud of him.
Rijiju said Dhankhar is extremely professional and impartial.
“We oppose the submission of this notice. This can never be successful,” he told reporters.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma alleged that the move by the Opposition parties against Dhankhar was just to disrupt the House proceedings and asserted there were no valid grounds to impeach him.
The motion condemned the “partisan conduct” of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, and said it is “unbecoming of high-level Constitutional authorities that are expected to act in accordance with and in furtherance of the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India.”
The Opposition’s motion said Dhankhar’s term as the Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman has been “rife with instances” where he has “acted in a manner that is explicitly partisan and unfair towards members belonging to the Opposition”.
This is the first time that a notice for bringing a motion to remove the Vice President has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. A 14-day notice has to be given and it should be approved by the Deputy Chairman before the motion is taken up.
Notably, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the floor leaders of various opposition parties are not among the signatories to the notice, sources said.
The motion also comes in the wake of intense verbal clashes between Opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
The Opposition parties have been upset with Dhankhar over multiple issues.
The latest trigger was allowing BJP members to raise the allegations of links between Congress leaders and organisations backed by billionaire investor George Soros which the ruling party claims are involved in “anti-India activities”.
Ramesh, who is the Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications, said they were pained to move such a notice against the Chairman, but were “forced” to do so after he “crossed all limits” on Monday by allowing several members of the treasury benches to speak against the top Congress leadership in the House.
“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,” Ramesh posted on X.
He said all opposition parties belonging to the INDIA group have “unitedly, unanimously” endorsed a no-confidence motion against the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
“The honourable Chairman, the very learned Chairman, very erudite Chairman, well-known constitutional lawyer, Governor, a very senior man whom we respect… and with whom I enjoy the best of the personal equation, but we were forced to submit this no-confidence motion for the first time in the 72-year history of the Rajya Sabha,” he told PTI.
The Opposition said his conduct of the House on December 9, 2024, was particularly one-sided and totally unfair, and said he was “encouraging and provoking” the Treasury Benches to make outrageous remarks.
TMC MP and its Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose admitted that they do not have the numbers to win, but said “it is a strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy. Nothing against individuals, this is a fight for institutions”.
The BJP and its allies have 121 members in the Rajya Sabha, while the Opposition parties have 86 members. The non-aligned parties like the YSRCP, BJD, AIADMK, BRS and BSP have a total of 24 members.
INDIA bloc parties had in August this year also considered submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the Vice President from his office.
According to Article 67(b) of the Constitution: “Vice-President may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) 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.”
The Opposition MPs accused Dhankhar of being an “impassioned spokesperson of the Government’s policies in public forums across the country”.
The MPs also accused the House Chairman of repeatedly making disparaging comments about Members of the House belonging to their parties publicly, criticising any and every action taken by them where the Leaders have expressed viewpoints that are contrary to the position of the government.
They also mentioned an instance from July this year, where Dhankhar, while presiding as Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, labelled himself as the “Eklavya of the RSS”. (PTI)
