Efforts are on to divide country, insult its institutions: RS Chair

NEW DELHI: There is an ongoing effort to divide the country and insult its institutions which must be defeated, vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar said in Jaipur on Wednesday, in his first public comments after the Opposition submitted a notice to move a motion to remove the Rajya Sabha chairman.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

The notice, which was signed by around 60 INDIA bloc members on Tuesday, marked an unprecedented escalation in the bitterness between the government and the Opposition that has jammed the ongoing monsoon session.

"There are some forces in the country, and outside which are unable to digest India's progress. There is a well-planned effort going on to disintegrate the country, divide the country and insult its institutions. We must neutralise every anti-national narrative," he said.

To be sure, Dhankhar didn't directly refer to the notice during his speech in Jaipur. He has not made any other remark on the developments, but in response to Jairam Ramesh's comment in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the move was intended to save the institution, Dhankhar said, "I don't know who you are trying to save."

This is the first attempt to remove the chairman of the Upper House, but it is unlikely to succeed given the Opposition's diminished numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Attempts to remove the Lok Sabha Speaker have come before the Lower House three times but have failed.

Dhankhar was speaking at a function to launch a skill development centre in Jaipur, where he also called for balance in society. "We have rights, but along with rights we must also have a sense of duty," he said.

He said India was currently the fifth-largest economy in the world and will be in the third position in a year or two, adding that Viksit Bharat (developed India) was no longer a dream, but a goal.