Ruling MPs term notice against VP Dhankhar politically motivated, Oppn members call him partisan

New Delhi: Ruling and opposition MPs on Wednesday squabbled over the notice to initiate a no-trust motion against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, with NDA leaders terming the exercise "politically motivated" and I.N.D.I.A. bloc members accusing the Rajya Sabha Chairman of being biased.

Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said the notice is aimed at distracting people's attention from the issue of alleged links between the Congress leadership and billionaire investor George Soros.

"The no-confidence motion that has been brought is to conceal a thing by making a non-issue an issue. It is to conceal the relation of George Soros with Sonia Gandhi as if it comes out, there would be problems for the Congress. This is to divert attention from the issue," the minister of state for education told reporters outside Parliament.

MoS Fisheries and Animal Husbandry S P Singh Baghel said former Congress president Sonia Gandhi should come clean over the issue.

"This issue was raised by Nishikant Dubey ji in Lok Sabha, and Sudhanshu Trivedi in Rajya Sabha. The burden of proof is on the person against whom allegations have been made. She (Sonia Gandhi) is a senior leader of a major party. She should come out clear," Baghel said.

He said the no-trust motion notice against RS Chairperson Dhankhar "is politically motivated". "Whatever the vice-president does, he takes decisions as per the rules. This should not have been done." Asked about the opposition's notice against Dhankhar, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said the House must function in accordance with its tradition. "There is a motion. I know for a fact the BJP will not allow it to be admitted despite the fact that they have numbers. They must discuss the matter," Sibal said.

"The House must function in accordance with its tradition, all you need to see is the proceedings of the House in last 2-3 years, and you would know how the House is functioning," he said.

DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva accused the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Deputy Chairman of being partisan.

"What is going on in Rajya Sabha is unprecedented. We have never come across this. The Chair comes, the treasury benches are spilling words at the opposition, taking individual names, which is totally against the rules of procedure and conduct of business," Siva told reporters outside Parliament.

"Yesterday also I raised a point of order when they mentioned Rahul Gandhi's name. The Chair said the ruling is reserved. Today as well they spoke about Sonia Gandhi ji, made allegations. All those who wanted to speak against opposition parties were allowed, they did not give any of us the floor," he said.

"When the Deputy Chairman came on the Chair, he allowed the Leader of the House everything to go on record, he did not even turn to our side," he added.

TMC Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose said the notice against the Rajya Sabha Chairman is not against an individual, but an attempt to save Parliamentary democracy.

"We want the House to function from day one, because we are raising important issues. The TMC has been saying 'run the House'. The government is not allowing the House to function. It is the treasury benches that are not allowing the House to run," Ghose said.

"We want to save parliamentary democracy, it is not a personal attack, it's a fight to preserve the Constitution," she said.