Opposition moves no-confidence motion against VP Dhankhar

The Congress-led INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a motion for the removal of Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, alleging bias in his  approach while running the  House of Elders.

Sixty opposition parties of the entire INDIA bloc have signed the motion submitted to Rajya Sabha Secretary General.

The Congress sources confirmed to The Tribune that a resolution had been drafted, signed and submitted under Article 67 (B) of the Constitution, which says the V-P can be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by an effective majority and agreed upon by the Lok Sabha with a simple majority.

Fifty Rajya Sabha MPs must sign for the resolution to be submitted to the deputy chairman.

But there is a challenge. Under the rules, a 14-day notice is mandatory to submit a motion for V-P's removal.

The rule also requires a 14 days notice to bring such a motion whereas only eight working days are left in the current winter session, which ends on December 20.

Since there is no precedence of a motion to remove the V-P being moved ever in the past, this question of the 14-day notice is open to interpretation and would be up to the deputy chairman who would rule on the motion of the opposition.

Opposition sources say the notice could be disallowed on technical grounds that the winter session does not have the 14-day window available, but argue that the next session could be counted and the motion taken up later.

A similar move against Dhankhar was planned in August also, but aborted.

So far, as the numbers go, after recent byelections, the RS has an effective strength of 234 MPs. The BJP has 96 MPs and ruling NDA 112.

Six nominated MPs who side with the government in case of a vote take the strength of NDA to 118 -- two more than the simple majority of 116.

The Congress has 27 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and combined opposition 85.

The opposition doesn't have the numbers to carry the anti-V-P motion, but wants to make a political point after Dhankhar allowed BJP chief and Rajya Sabha leader JP Nadda to again attack the Congress for alleged links with George Soros.

The House was adjourned yesterday and again today on the issue.

Chairman Dhankhar had called both BJP and Congress leaders to his chamber for discussions, but the leader of opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, didn't not go. Jairam Ramesh, Pramod Tewari and Tiruchi Siva represented the opposition while Nadda, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and L Murugan represented the government.

No breakthrough was reached.