Disruptor of House is the chairman himself: Cong and INDIA bloc’s pointed remarks on No-trust notice

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, along with INDIA bloc leaders launched a no-holds-barred attack on the chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday, holding him responsible for the repeated stalling and disruption of the House, apparently over his ‘headmaster-type attitude’ and treatment of ‘Parliament like a school.’

In a joint press conference held by Congress and its allies, Mallikarjun Kharge hurled serious accusations at V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar and said, ‘The biggest disruptor of the House is the chairman himself.’

He accused the Rajya Sabha chairman of partisan conduct in the House and at times, even acting as the spokesperson of the ruling party.

“He is the one who disrupts the House. He gives sermons to the Opposition members but he never tries to stop chaos by the treasury benches. His conduct has hurt the conscience and dignity of the House as well as the nation,” Kharge told newsmen.

He also said that the move to bring no-trust motion against the Vice-President was not by choice but because of compulsion.

“We were left with no option but to go ahead with this notice. For three years, he has been acting in a partisan manner. He has given ample time to the treasury benches, denied the Opposition a chance to present their views and also resorted to schooling the Opposition leaders like a headmaster,” said Kharge, in a pointed charge at Dhankhar.

He further said that the Vice-President never misses any opportunity to insult the senior and more experienced members of the Opposition and added that sometimes, he even outperforms the spokesperson of the ruling party.

“For the worst time in our history, we have a Vice-President who openly criticised Opposition parties in public and behaved like a spokesperson of the ruling party not just in the House but also outside,” he elaborated.

Kharge, further dishing out advice to the Rajya Sabha chairman said that he should behave like a custodian of the House and protector of the Opposition members.

“He is expected to rise above politics and hear the voices of all parties and leaders. His conduct of the House for the past three days was particularly troubling as it was marked by blatant partisanship and total lack of fairness,” said Kharge.

“He rejects all the notices of the Opposition but allows that of ruling parties. When we raise our fingers, he doesn’t allow us to speak one sentence. When I get up, he doesn’t allow us to speak for more than two minutes. This is not just a breach of protocol but the betrayal of the Constitution as well as the people of India,” he remarked, justifying the reason behind moving a no-trust motion against Dhankhar.

Apart from Kharge, many INDIA bloc leaders including RJD’s Manoj Jha, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and other party spokespersons launched diatribe at the Vice-President, alleging that there was a co-ordinated and systematic targeting of the Opposition, apparently at the behest of Centre.

Justifying the no-trust notice, the first ever in history, they said that this was brought not because of any personal bias but because of political compulsion as its sole intention is to safeguard the dignity and integrity of the Parliament.

Earlier in the day, both Houses of Parliament witnessed uproarious scenes over the no-trust notice against Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and the George Soros issue.