On Thursday, Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha accused Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar of misusing his power, alleging that muzzling of the Opposition’s ‘right to speak’, and ‘expression of opinion’ in Rajya Sabha has now become a norm.
Kharge blamed of “persistent heckling”, and “unwarranted insistence on authentication” in order to throttle Opposition’s freedom of expression. “Dhankhar repeatedly criticised Opposition leaders outside House, often echoing the ruling party’s arguments. He displays unwarranted sycophancy towards the government within the House and outside,” Kharge said.
He further added that he was not permitted to speak in the House and he seeks to place before the People of India, 10 points as to why the Opposition expresses “no confidence” in the conduct of the Chairman and the functioning of the Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha witnessed a huge ruckus as the treasury and opposition benches traded charges over no-trust notice against Dhankhar, with BJP linking Congress to US billionaire investor George Soros. “What is the relationship between Sonia Gandhi and Soros? The country wants to know,” BJP chief JP Nadda asked in Parliament, rattling the Congress MPs, who accused Dhankar of “encouraging reckless allegations” rather than containing them.
