Dhankhar's exit: Rajya Sabha's Business Advisory Committee postponed to Wednesday

The first meeting on Monday gave the indications of the growing uneasiness between Jagdeep Dhankhar and the government.

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha Business Advisory Committee (BAC), which is yet to finalise a decision on when to hold a debate on Operation Sindoor, as its meeting that remained inconclusive on Monday and witnessed four postponements will, now be held Wednesday afternoon. 

The meeting was first called by then Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday 1pm, but it remained inconclusive and rescheduled to meet at 4.30 pm and again to Tuesday 1pm.

However, the second meeting, it now appears, set in motion a chain of events that culminated in the dramatic resignation of Dhankhar late in the night as Vice President while ceasing to be Rajya Sabha Chairman.

However, the 1pm meeting, to be chaired by Deputy Chairman Harivansh, on Tuesday was rescheduled to 5.30pm.

However, late afternoon, the meeting was postponed again to Wednesday 12.30pm.

Incidentally, the 4.30pm meeting, which saw Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju skipping owing to other official engagements, gave the first indications of the growing uneasiness between Dhankhar and the government. 

Minutes before the meeting, Dhankhar had informed the House about receiving an Opposition-sponsored impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma, much to the surprise of the government. No reasons were publicised for rescheduling meetings of the BAC.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O'Brien said the BAC has been rescheduled "an unprecedented" four times since Monday and accused the government of running away from Parliament. 

"It does not want Parliament to run. That is why they are disrupting the entire session...What is going on?" he said.