RS proceedings adjourned till Monday amid ruckus over no-confidence notice against Dhankhar

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) The opposition move to seek impeachment of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar led to pandemonium in Rajya Sabha on Friday, with opposition and treasury benches clashing over the issue and the chairperson saying it is not a campaign against him but against the farmer community he belongs to.
     The proceedings of the House, which have been marred because of the no-trust notice and the Adani row, were adjourned for the day in the first hour itself, but not before Dhankhar saying he was a farmer's son and will not "show weakness".
     "Day in and day out there is only a campaign against the chairman... it's a campaign not against me, it's a campaign against the category to which I belong," he asserted while expressing anguish.
     "I am personally pained for a reason that the main opposition party has put is as a blitz, as a campaign against the chairman. They are entitled to bring motion against me. This is their constitutional right but they are deviating from the constitutional provisions… ," he said.
     The chairperson, before adjourning the proceedings around 11.45 am till Monday, appealed to Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the House J P Nadda to come to his chamber for finding a way out to end the logjam.
     "I appeal to you Kharge ji, please spare time, accept my prayer, see me in my chamber today. Same request I am making to the Leader of the House also...
     "I will try to navigate things so that we are able to work as member of the House. I would expect Kharge ji to respond. Lets us meet in my chamber and find a way out," Dhankhar said.
     When he appealed to Kharge, an angry leader of opposition retorted angrily. "How can I respect you. You are insulting me," the Congress president said.
     As he was speaking, the Chair adjourned the proceedings till Monday.
     The Rajya Sabha is expected to start a two-day debate on the glorious history of 75 years of the Constitution of India. This has been a major demand of the opposition to end the logjam during the first week of the winter session.
     Trouble in the Upper House started after BJP's Radha Mohan Das Agrawal raised a point of order and narrated the procedure related to the no-confidence motion against vice president of India, who is an ex-officio chairperson of Rajya Sabha.
     Agarwal spoke at length on the impeachment notice given by the opposition parties, calling it an insult to the nation and post the vice president and farmers.
     He said the notice, as the rules specify, is to be taken up after 14 days but the Congress leaders have gone to the press with allegations.
     The Congress, he alleged, has a history of "insulting presidents and vice presidents".
     Jawaharlal Nehru, as the country's first prime minister, used to "continuously insult President Rajendra Prasad", he alleged. He went on to add that Prasad was not given a cremation in the national capital and was even deprived of medical facilities when he was ill.
     "Nehru asked (the then president) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan not to attend Prasad's funeral in Patna. But Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan did not listen to the Prime Minister and he went for the funeral (of India's first president)," he alleged.
     He said Kharge should have waited for 14 days according to rules for the no-confidence motion to be taken up and then spoken on the subject. Instead the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha has been making allegations against the House chairperson through press statements and social media, Dhankhar said.
     "Congress has no faith in the Constitution," he said.
     "He (Kharge) had made 10 allegations (against Dhankhar)... 10 Janpath ki chatukarita mein 10 aaroop (10 allegations in sycophancy of 10 Janpath -- the residence of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi)."
     He demanded that his breach of privilege motion against the 60 opposition MPs who signed the no-confidence motion be taken up and the chair should initiate action against them.
     Surendra Singh Nagar (BJP) said the Congress party is "anti-farmer" and "anti-OBC" and the country will not forgive it for this act.
     Neeraj Shekhar (BJP) said the Congress does not want any son of farmer, Dalit or poor to progress.
     "They are making personal remarks (against Dhankhar)," he said.
     Kiran Choudhary (BJP) said the act of Congress through the no-confidence motion has shown their "anti-farmer" attitude. "They work only to save one family."
     Amid the din, opposition Congress MPs tried to make their point.
     Dhankhar finally allowed Pramod Tiwari (Congress) to speak.
     Tiwari said if the chairman was a son of farmer, Leader of Opposition Kharge is a son of farm labourer and a Dalit who is not being allowed to speak.
     Just as he brought a reference to the ruling side trying to save a billionaire, who is facing bribery allegations in the US, Dhankhar interjected to say nothing will go on record.
     Dhankhar said, "Kisan ka beta hoon, kamzori nahi dikhaunga (I am son of the farmer, I will not go weak)"
     "I have tolerated enough," he said, adding the opposition parties have to wait for 14 days before the motion brought by them can be discussed.
     "It will come after 14 days," he said.
     The treasury benches created ruckus when the floor was given to the opposition leaders. When Kharge was given the floor, he alleged that the chairperson was purposely encouraging the BJP members and giving more time to them.
     "Make them sit. We have not come here to listen praises for you," Kharge said.
     Earlier, Dhankhar said he has received four notices under Rule 267 seeking to set aside business of the day to take up the issue being sought to be raised. PTI JP NKD MJH ANZ SKC SKC KSS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)