Oppn moves notice to seek RS chair's ouster

Parliament hostilities escalate

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

NEW DELHI: Around 60 parliamentarians of the INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to move a motion to remove vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, an unprecedented escalation in the bitterness between the government and the Opposition that has jammed the ongoing monsoon session.

This is the first attempt to remove the chairman of the Upper House, but it might not succeed given the Opposition's diminished numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Attempts to remove the Lok Sabha Speaker have come before the Lower House three times but have failed.

"For the first time in the 72-year history of the Rajya Sabha, opposition parties have formally submitted a no-confidence motion against the Chairman. There have been three occasions, however, when a no-confidence motion has been moved against the Speaker of the Lok Sabha," said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who put out the information about the notice.