Opposition submits notice for moving no-confidence motion against Vice President Dhankhar

New Delhi, Dec 10: In a first, parties of the INDIA opposition bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in Rajya Sabha for the removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of “partisan” conduct as the chairman of the Upper House.

If the motion is moved, these parties need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House. Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy”.

On behalf of the opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 opposition MPs -- including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party -- to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody.

This is the first time that a notice for bringing a motion to remove the Vice President has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. A 14-day notice has to be given and it should be approved by the Deputy Chairman before the motion is taken up.

Notably, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the floor leaders of various opposition parties are not among the signatories to the notice, the sources said.

Similar notices for removal of the Speaker of Lok Sabha have been submitted in the past, but none against the Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman.

Three motions have come in the past against Lok Sabha Speakers - against G V Mavalankar on December 18, 1954, against Hukam Singh on November 24, 1966 and against Balram Jakhar on April 15, 1987.

While the motions against Mavalankar and Jahar were negatived, that against Hukam Singh was rejected as less than 50 members rose in the chair to take up the motion.

The present move, spearheaded by the Congress, comes in the wake of verbal clashes between opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha chairman.

The opposition has been upset with Dhankhar over multiple issues. The latest trigger was allowing BJP members to raise the allegations of links between Congress leaders and organisations backed by billionaire investor George Soros which the ruling party claims are involved in “anti-India activities”.

Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications) Jairam Ramesh said they were pained to move such a notice against the Chairman, but were “forced” to do so after he “crossed all limits” on Monday by allowing several members of the treasury benches to speak against top Congress leadership in the House.

“All parties belonging to the INDIA group have had no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion against the learned Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for the extremely partisan manner in which he has been conducting the proceedings of the Council of States.

“It has been a very painful decision for the INDIA parties to take, but in the interests of parliamentary democracy they have had to take this step,” Ramesh posted on X.

He said all opposition parties belonging to the INDIA group have “unitedly, unanimously” endorsed a no-confidence motion against the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

“The honourable Chairman, the very learned Chairman, very erudite Chairman, well-known constitutional lawyer, Governor, a very senior man whom we respect... and with whom I enjoy the best of the personal equation, but we were forced to submit this no-confidence motion for the first time in the 72-year history of the Rajya Sabha,” he told PTI.

Ramesh said the way the chairman has run Rajya Sabha “unfortunately gives us the impression that he is biased”.

Noting that the role of the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha is of pivotal importance, the parties said Dhakhkar is expected to conduct himself in a non-partisan manner but has instead reduced “the prestige of the position he presently occupies to that of a mere spokesman for the Government of the day”.

The opposition said his conduct of the House on December 9, 2024, was particularly one-sided and totally unfair, and said he was “encouraging and provoking” the Treasury Benches to make outrageous remarks.

TMC MP and its Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose admitted that do not have the numbers to win, but said “it is a strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy. Nothing against individuals, this is a fight for institutions”.

INDIA bloc parties had in August this year also considered submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the vice president from his office.

According to Article 67(b) of the Constitution: “Vice-President may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council and agreed to by the House of the People; but no resolution for the purpose of this clause shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.”

The motion submitted by opposition MPs condemned the “partisan conduct” of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, and said it is “unbecoming of high-level Constitutional authorities that are expected to act in accordance with and in furtherance of the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India.”

The opposition’s motion said Dhankhar’s term as the Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman has been “rife with instances” where he has “acted in a manner that is explicitly partisan and unfair towards members belonging to the Opposition”.

They accused the chairman of repeatedly making disparaging comments about Members of the House belonging to Opposition Parties publically, criticising any and every action taken by them where the Leaders have expressed issues with the functioning of the ruling Government.

They also mentioned an instance from July this year, where Dhankar, while presiding as Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, labelled himself as the “Eklavya of the RSS”.

“Such remarks by Shri Jagdeep Dhankar are unbecoming of the non-partisan nature of the position he currently occupies,” they said.

The notice also said that he has repeatedly denied “legitimate requests” of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha to intervene and rebut the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House.

They also alleged he is being an “impassioned spokesperson of the Government’s policies in public forums across the country”, and has publicly attacked Opposition MPs for viewpoints expressed by them that are contrary to the position of the ruling government.