Oppn moves notice to seek RS chair's ouster

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.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

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.

"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," he added.

The Opposition's notice is based on Article 67(b) of the Constitution, which says that such a resolution cannot be moved unless a notice of at least 14 days has been provided.

The notice was signed by about 60 lawmakers and was submitted to the secretary general of the Rajya Sabha, PC Mody.

"As Chairperson, the manner in which the Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts parliamentary affairs of the Rajya Sabha is extremely partisan. It is a matter of record that Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has repeatedly interrupted members of the Opposition while they are speaking, unfairly used privilege motions to silence leaders of the opposition, and openly delegitimized dissent with respect to the actions of the government in the utmost disparaging manner," the notice said.

Dhankhar did not comment on the matter but his office posted photos on X of the Rajya Sabha chairman's meeting with a number of MPs, including some of those who have signed the notice against him.