GUWAHATI: Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to move a no-confidence motion against Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar in an unprecedented action in India’s parliamentary history.
ALSO READ: Japan Unveils AI-Powered 'Human Washing Machine'
The notice was submitted to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, According to reports, the notice was signed by 65 members as against the minimum requirement is 50. If admitted, the resolution under Article 67(B) of the Constitution with a 14-day notice would require a majority in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha to remove the chairman.
However, given the arithmetic in the House the motion is expected to be defeated; the Opposition though wants to register its point that Dhankar gives it little opportunity to speak in the House.
The Opposition has alleged partial functioning of the House under Dhankar’s chairmanship with bias towards the ruling party.
INDIA bloc parties had in August this year also considered submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the vice-president from his office.
The move against Dhankar comes in the wake of turbulent ties between opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha chairman, over multiple issues, the latest being his nod to the members of BJP to raise the "Congress-Soros link" issue in the House.
Dhankar's permission prompted chaos in the House as BJP MPs accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of having alleged links with American Billionaire George Soros. In return, Congress MPs started raising questions over bribery charges against Gautam Adani by the US Department of Justice, accusing the ruling dispensation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting the Adani group, which led to the adjournment of the House without conducting any business.
Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications) Jairam Ramesh said it was a “[ainful decision” In a post on X, he said, “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. 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.”
According to Article 67(b) of the Constitution, "Vice-President may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council and agreed to by the House of the People; but no resolution for the purpose of this clause shall be moved unless at least fourteen days' notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution."
