Oppn moves no-confidence motion against Dhankhar

New Delhi: The Opposition on Tuesday moved a no-confidence motion against Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, making it the first such action in India’s parliamentary history.

While there was no confirmation from the Congress, sources in one of the Opposition parties said the motion had been moved, with 65 signatures. The minimum required numbers for moving a motion to remove the Vice President is 50.

Though the motion is expected to be defeated given how the numbers are stacked in the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition – that had contemplated a no-trust motion against Dhankhar in August as well – wants to prove its point of not being given an opportunity to speak in the House by the presiding officer.

The notice, spearheaded by the Congress, comes in the wake of turbulent ties between Opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha Chairman.

“ALL parties belonging to the INDIA group have had no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion against the 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 Jairam Ramesh posted on X.

Earlier in August, INDIA bloc parties had also considered submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the vice president from his office.

On Tuesday too, proceedings in the Upper House were washed out within hours, as the BJP again accused the Congress of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to “harm” the country.