Jaya, Dhankhar engage in war of words over ‘tone’ barb; Opposition stages walkout

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 9

The Rajya Sabha’s 265th session ended on an acrimonious note on Friday, with the Opposition and Treasury benches engaging in a noisy verbal dual over an apology demanded by the Opposition from BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari for his remarks about LoP Mallikarjun Kharge in the House on July 30.

Eventually, the entire Opposition walked out of the House and refused to return. The ruling party retaliated by moving a censure motion condemning the Opposition. Moving the motion, JP Nadda, Union Health Minister and the Leader of the House, urged the members present in the House to pass a resolution condemning the Opposition.

As soon as the Zero Hour got over and Question Hour began in the Rajya Sabha, Congress’ chief whip Jairam Ramesh got up and asked Dhankhar about a ruling he was supposed to give over Tiwari’s remark.

Dhankhar said the matter had been amicably resolved by the two senior members in his presence in his chamber. Ramesh and other Congress leaders responded by saying that as Tiwari had made the remarks in the floor of the house, he should give a clarification inside the House.

DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said the tone of a person also mattered and Tiwari did have an offensive tone when made the remarks about Kharge were made. LoP Kharge, who was present in the House, also insisted that Tiwari must give an explanation inside the House in the presence of all members.

Reiterating that Ghanshyam Tiwari (who had said Kharge’s entire family was involved in politics, something that Kharge said smacked of accusing him of promoting “parivaarvaad”) had actually praised Kharge, Dhankhar said one did not apologise for saying nice things about an individual.

Noting that SP MP Jaya Amitabh Bachchan also wanted to say something, Dhankhar announced her name and said after she had finished, there would be no more discussion on the issue. Bachchan said she was an artist and could read body language and expression. “Forgive me sir, but your tone is not acceptable. We are colleagues, sir, you may be sitting on the chair…”, she said.

Dhankhar got furious and said, “Jaya ji, you may have earned great reputation. But I must remind you that an actor is subjected to the director. You don’t see what I see from here”. All hell broke loose at this point of time and the Opposition eventually walked out from the House. Condemning the Opposition MPs, Dhankhar said they were walking away from their obligations. “You want to destabilise the entire nation, you are out to create chaos in the House”, he said.

Leaders of BJP and its allies, including former PM HD Deve Gowda, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ramnath Thakur, Jayant Chaudhary, Ramdas Athawale, Sanjay Jha, KR Suresh Reddy and Praful Patel, also spoke one after another and condemned the Opposition. When the House resumed after lunch recess, it was adjourned three times, for half an hour each. Dhankhar said he had ordered the adjournments hoping that the Opposition would return to the House.

Chairman being partisan: Cong

• The Congress accused RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar of partisanship in favour of government and said the Opposition was not getting the importance it deserved
• The Congress was speaking after Dhankhar slammed the Opposition for staging a walkout from the RS following a massive showdown over his “tone”
• Congress MP Ajay Maken said: “Not just the Congress, but the entire Opposition feels that his approach is partial and the Opposition is not getting the importance it deserves.”

INDIA bloc may move resolution to remove Vice-President

The turbulent relations between Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and INDIA bloc parties came to a head-on Friday, with sources saying that the Opposition was considering submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the Vice-President from his office. PTI