No-trust notice against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has 60 signatures

The notice, spearheaded by the Congress, comes in the wake of turbulent ties between opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha chairman.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts proceedings in the House during the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts proceedings in the House during the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.File photo | PTI
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NEW DELHI: The strained ties between the Opposition and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar came to a head on Tuesday as the INDIA bloc submitted a notice for a motion in the House to remove him from the post, accusing him of partisanship.

Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 MPs — including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party — to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody.

The motion said, “Unfortunately, Dhankhar’s brief term 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 such a notice has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. While the Opposition conceded that the scales are tilted in favour of the ruling NDA, they said it was a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy”.

Elaborating the reasons to move the motion, the parties pointed out that Dhankhar’s conduct of the House on Monday was particularly one-sided and totally unfair. “He was encouraging and provoking the Treasury Benches to make outrageous remarks.” He has repeatedly acted in a manner that reduces the prestige of the position he holds, they charged.

The Opposition enclosed a list of articles and videos covering various instances where the chairman has unjustly been critical of Opposition members or their actions.

Later, Jairam Ramesh said that they were pained to move such a notice, 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," Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X.

NDA has the numbers to defeat motion

The NDA has 119, two more than the current halfway mark of 117 in the RS, while the Opposition has 85. Among the fence-sitters are the YSR Congress Party with nine and the BJD with seven members

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts proceedings in the House during the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.
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