RS adjourned as protests erupt after Dhankhar turns up to chair session

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Wednesday amid protests by Opposition members against Vice-President and Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar presiding over the House despite a no-confidence motion notice submitted by the INDIA bloc.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju criticised the Opposition, claiming their notice aimed to divert attention from the alleged George Soros-Sonia Gandhi link. Accusing Opposition representatives of being unfit for the House, he said for the first time in 72 years, a son of a farmer had become the Vice-President of the country.

The session was marred by chaos, with members of the ruling BJP raising slogans about Sonia’s alleged links to Soros, while Opposition members questioned Dhankhar’s authority to chair the session and accused him of undermining democracy.

Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh defended the no-confidence motion as necessary “to save democracy”. Dhankhar acknowledged the motion but questioned its purpose.

Amid the uproar, slogans such as “BJP sharam karo” from the Opposition and “Sonia-Soros bhai bhai” from BJP members filled the House, leading to adjournments twice before noon.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda urged members to focus on transacting business, but tensions remained high. Leader of the House JP Nadda called the motion a deliberate distraction from issues of national sovereignty. Following renewed disruptions, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh adjourned the House for the day.

However, after weeklong disruptions, the Lok Sabha managed to do some business as the Railways Amendment Bill was passed, before it was adjourned at 5 pm after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's remarks against Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia led to a furore among treasury benches. The Congress did not find any support from within the INDIA alliance constituents to raise the Adani issue, which resulted in the Question Hour passing away without any protests. However half an hour into the zero hour, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi raised the Manipur violence issue, and blamed the Centre for failing to curb it.

This led to protests from the treasury benches with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal countering Gogoi’s charge by raising the George Soros issue and blaming the Congress of trying to destabilise the country in connivance with foreign entities. Amid chaos, the House was adjourned till 2 pm.

Gogoi said the people of Manipur only want to know that why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited the state and will he go there?