Kharge's scathing attack on Dhankhar

Asserting that "trampling of democracy" has become the norm in Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge Thursday alleged abuse of power by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and questioned his impartiality.

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The Congress chief alleged the Rajya Sabha chairman has consistently suppressed the freedom of expression of Opposition members through "persistent heckling, unwarranted insistence on authentication, unfair remarks, and the refusal to list issues of public importance for discussion".

His scathing criticism of the vice president comes a couple of days after Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc parties, spearheaded by the Congress, submitted a notice in Rajya Sabha for moving a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar, accusing him of being “extremely partisan”.

On behalf of the Opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain on Tuesday 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.

In a post on X on Thursday, Kharge alleged that muzzling the Opposition’s “right to speak” and “expression of opinion” has become the norm in Rajya Sabha.