Rajya Sabha
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day on Wednesday following a pandemonium over the no-trust notice against Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the George Soros issue.
Leader of House J P Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju led the charge against the Opposition condemning the notice against Dhankhar while accusing the top Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of working with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country.
Both treasury and Opposition benches indulged in sloganeering against each other during the Zero Hour and Question Hour, leading to adjournments.
Dhankhar was in the Chair when the House assembled at 11 noon for Zero Hour before he adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon. When it reconvened, Deputy Chairman Harivansh chaired the proceedings, which came against the backdrop of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc submitting a notice to consider his removal due to his "extreme partisan" ways in conducting the Rajya Sabha.
At 12 noon when the House reconvened after Zero Hour was curtailed following sloganeering from both sides, Nadda condemned the Opposition move while claiming that it was an attempt to “divert attention” from the issue of “ties between the top Congress leadership and Soros”.
“...For the last two days our people have been raising the issue of what relationship does the Congress top leadership have with George Soros. What is the relationship between Soros and Sonia Gandhi?” Nadda said, adding it concerned the country's sovereignty, and internal and external security.
He said the notice against Dhankhar was a design to divert attention from the issue of the country’s sovereignty and threat to internal and external security. “They (Congress) are becoming a tool in the hands” of those threatening the country’s integrity, he said.
Nadda went on to say that the Opposition did not respect the Chair, be it inside or outside the House. As the Opposition vociferously objected to Nadda’s speech, Harivansh adjourned the House.
Earlier, Dhankhar initially started referring to the notices seeking suspension of business and then called Rijiju to speak after official papers were laid on the table.
Rijiju charged the Opposition with insulting the “son of a farmer” who became the country’s Vice President and pledged to defend any move to attack the honour and dignity of the Chair.
“Opposition does not believe in democracy. It does not obey the Chair. You level baseless allegations. You have no right to be a member of Rajya Sabha if you cannot honour and obey the Chair,” he said.
He then alleged that there is a nexus between Soros and the Congress. “You are working with them. You speak the same language as them. You stand with anti-India forces and then you give notice against the chairman,” he said.
When an Opposition MP said they were attempting to save democracy, Dhankhar retorted, “I don't know who you are saving.”
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda also came out in support of Dhankhar while Congress Deputy Leader Pramod Tiwari said the government was murdering democracy. As sloganeering continued, Dhankhar adjourned the House till 12 noon.