Parties belonging to the INDIA bloc are likely to back a Congress no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar alleging partisan functioning in the Upper House, sources have said. Sources said all the INDIA bloc parties — including Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party that do not see eye to eye with the Congress – are expected to sign the motion.
The parties will be moving the motion under Article 67(B) of the Constitution.
The Opposition has been at odds with the Rajya Sabha chairman over multiple issues. Matters came to a head today when the BJP members accused top Congress leaders of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country.
When Mr Dhankhar asked why the ruling party members were protesting, many BJP MPs alleged that the top Congress leadership has links with Soros. They demanded that the issue be discussed in the House as it is connected to national security.
Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and other Congress leaders like Jairam Ramesh and Pramod Tiwari questioned how the chairman was allowing the ruling party members to raise the issue when he had rejected their notices seeking discussion on various subjects.
Both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned shortly amid the chaos. For the Rajya Sabha, it was the third adjournment of the day, following which Mr Dhankhar called the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition to his chamber to resolve the logjam.
“The purpose of that meeting was to ensure that the House runs smoothly. Both sides had a frank discussion and they signalled two things. One, that integrity, and sovereignty of the nation are sacred for us. We cannot allow any forces within the country or outside to ruin our unity, our integrity and our sovereignty,” Mr Dhankhar later said.
A second meeting will be held at 10.30 am on Tuesday.
