'Bypass surgery with vegetable knife': VP Dhankhar on no-trust motion against him in Rajya Sabha

'The person who wrote my notice had rust on his knife! I was stunned after reading it. But I am surprised that none of you have read it,' he said.

New Delhi: Slamming the Opposition parties for moving a no-confidence motion against him, Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said that they tried to perform "bypass surgery" with a vegetable knife.

In his first reaction to the notice submitted by the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, he said, "Look at the notice against the Vice-President. Chandrashekhar ji had said, never do bypass surgery with a vegetable cutting knife... that was not even a vegetable cutting knife. The person who wrote my notice had rust on his knife! I was stunned after reading it. But I am surprised that none of you have read it."

The notice was rejected by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chair Harivansh.

"When I read it, I was astonished. But what surprised me more was that none of you read it. If you had, you wouldn't have been able to sleep for days," he told a group of women journalists.

"Their objective is to destroy, brick by brick, our constitutional institutions, slur the presidency.. and mind you, who is the president? The first tribal woman to become president of this country," Dhankhar remarked.

Cautioning against orchestrated efforts to harm national interests, the Vice President said these activities are fuelled in a planned manner by forces that are determined to be inimical to the interest of the country.

Dhankhar said any constitutional position has to be vindicated by commitment to sublimity, sterling qualities and constitutionalism.

"We are not in a position to settle scores. Because for the success of democracy, two things are inalienable: expression and dialogue," he said, according to an official statement.

Referring to parliamentary debates, Dhankhar said, " Have you noticed in 10, 20, 30 years, any great debate? Any great contribution made on the floor of the House? We are in the news for the wrong reasons."

"Accountability must be enforced by the media, the only conveyance to the people at large. Media can strike a chord with the people and generate pressure on public representatives," he said.