Parliament Session: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday (June 28), while expressing anguish over Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge trooping into the Well of the House during an Opposition protest, said that it is for the first time in the history that a person holding the post was involved in such conduct. The Upper House of the Parliament witnessed three adjournments on Friday due to protests and sloganeering by the Opposition.
The Well of the House is the central open space between the members of the House and the Lok Sabha Speaker or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
What transpired inside the Rajya Sabha?
Soon after laying of the listed papers on the table of the House in the morning session, the Chairman informed that he has not accepted 22 notices by the Opposition leaders to suspend the scheduled business of the day and take up discussion on the alleged NEET irregularities issue, which was demanded by several leaders.
The announcement led to protests by the Opposition MPs who started raising slogans, while several of them entered into the Well of the House. This led to the adjournment of the proceedings.
Just before the adjournment, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi had started speaking on the discussion on a motion to thank the President for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament.
When the House reassembled, there were almost similar scenes and the Trivedi’s speech was disrupted again. Mallikarjun Kharge, at one point, too entered the Well and joined the Opposition protest.
Dhankhar reacts to Kharge’s entry
The Rajya Sabha Chairman remarked that the act of coming into the Well by a leader of the Opposition has happened for the first time in the history and become a “stain” for Parliament.
"I am pained and surprised that Indian parliamentary tradition will stoop to such low that the leader of the opposition will troop into the Well," he said, before adjourning the proceedings till 2 pm. Later again, he referred to the incident.
Timestamp: 59.30 minutes
"The kind of conduct, ignoble conduct, a conduct that will hurt every Indian, will put this institution to shame. We are here elected, get the prestige of being members of the upper house, the house of elders. If in this House we conduct ourselves in this unruly manner, it is most unfortunate," the chairman said.
The House later took up the discussions on the motion of the thanks before adjourning for the day around 6 pm. Rajya Sabha will meet again at 11 am on Monday.
Kharge reacts to his entry into Well
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said he was forced to step in the Well of the House as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not allow him an opportunity to speak even as he raised his hand for a long time. Blaming the Rajya Sabha Chairman for the incident, Kharge said that he went to the Well to get his attention.
Kharge told reporters outside the Parliament that he raised his hand for a long time and waited for the Chairman to notice him, but his focus was on the treasury benches. He said that he was forced to go the the Well to get the Chairman's attention and accused him of disrespecting the MPs. Kharge also said that the opposition wanted to raise the NEET issue as it affects lakhs of students, and did not want to disrupt the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.
(With PTI inputs)
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