The Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc submitted a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday, accusing him of partisan conduct in managing the proceedings of the House. The motion, signed by more than 50 MPs from opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and Rashtriya Janata Dal, was submitted to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
However, the motion is unlikely to gain success as the opposition is not strong enough in the Rajya Sabha or in the Lok Sabha to win a proposal. In both Houses, a simple majority is necessary to remove the chairperson: a majority of 50 percent plus one of the members voting.
Accusation Of Impartiality
Opposition leaders justified the move as a stand on principle rather than a calculated effort to secure the motion’s success. “This motion is not against an individual but to protect the institution and the impartiality of the chair,” said an unnamed opposition leader.
The notice follows days of turmoil in Parliament, with frequent adjournments due to heated exchanges between MPs from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition. Key issues raised by the opposition include violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, farmers’ protests over the Minimum Support Price, and allegations against the Adani Group. However, the BJP has accused the opposition of disrupting proceedings to avoid clarifying alleged links between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and businessman George Soros.
Union Minister Criticises the decisions
Union Minister Giriraj Singh criticized the opposition, alleging they were “not allowing the House to function” to evade accountability. In response, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP of stalling discussions on critical issues, including the Adani controversy.
The immediate trigger for the motion appears to be Chairperson Dhankhar’s handling of Monday’s session, where BJP MPs launched accusations against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over alleged links to Soros and his affiliated organizations. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused Dhankhar of allowing defamatory remarks against Sonia Gandhi while rejecting opposition notices to raise their concerns.
The motion has garnered support from several opposition parties but notably lacks backing from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Trinamool Congress MPs Nadimul Haque and Sagarika Ghosh, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT) are among those who signed the motion.
While the outcome of the motion is all but certain, the opposition emphasized its symbolic significance. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, “This motion is a necessary step to highlight the concerns over the partisan functioning of the Chair.”
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…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) December 10, 2024
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has yet to announce the schedule for discussing the motion.
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