New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) A day after Opposition INDIA bloc members submitted a notice of no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Upper House on Wednesday witnessed massive protests, sloganeering, and chaotic scenes, forcing adjournment of the House minutes after it convened for the day.
The House was first adjourned till 12 noon, but later, when it reconvened, it was adjourned for the day. The House will now meet at 11AM on December 12, 2024.
While both opposition and ruling party members exchanged charges against each other, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju vehemently defended the Vice President and ex-officio Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
“If you attack the dignity of the Chair of the Vice President, we are going to defend it. You (Opposition) give notice against the Chairman (of the House). It’s difficult to find a Chairman like him (Jagdeep Dhankhar). The Chairman has always spoken for the farmers and the poor inside the House and outside it,” said Rijiju while speaking in the House.
The Minister said he will not allow the Opposition’s agenda to prevail.
“There are reports of links between Sonia Gandhi and George Soros (American businessman). Such reports have been published worldwide. You are working hand in glove with those acting against India. You speak the same language as George Soros,” he said.
“You people are not worthy of being the member of this House,” he added, launching a full-blown attack on the Opposition.
Senior Congress member Pramod Tiwari lashed out at the ruling party, saying that they have murdered the Constitution and nurture the desire to change it.
The Congress party has rejected the Soros charge and said that the ruling party members are making the allegations to divert attention from the alleged corruption by industrialist Gautam Adani.
With the opposition in no mood to relent on its stand against Dhankhar, the House was expected to begin on a stormy note on Wednesday.
As the Opposition and ruling party members traded charges and the House slipped into chaos, Chairman Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon. As the House reconvened, senior BJP leader and Leader of the House JP Nadda raised the issue of Soros and reiterated the demand to discuss the alleged link between the US investor and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
With the clash between the treasury and Opposition benches continuing, the House was adjourned for the day.
The Opposition members’ move to submit a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar is seen as unprecedented as it has happened for the first time against the Rajya Sabha Chair in the last 72 years.
