Proud of V-P Dhankhar, opposition's notice for his removal will be rejected: Rijiju

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday condemned the opposition INDIA bloc's move to submit a notice for removal of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, dubbing it as "extremely regrettable".

Talking to reporters here, Rijiju said the notice would be rejected by the House as the majority of the members of the Rajya Sabha had "full faith" in Chairman Dhankhar, who is a "knowledgeable person and a gentleman".

In a first, parties of the INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in Rajya Sabha for the removal of Dhankhar, accusing him of "partisan" conduct as the chairperson of the Upper House.

"We oppose the submission of this notice. This can never be successful," the minister said.

"This notice served by the members of the Congress party and some of its allies must be rejected and will be rejected, and this type of action will not be accepted by the House," Rijiju said.

The senior BJP leader alleged that the Congress had submitted the notice against Dhankhar to hide its misdeeds and distract attention from the reports of its "links" with US billionaire George Soros and anti-India activities of outfits linked to him.

If the motion is moved, the opposition parties need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House.

Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a "strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy".

Rijiju said the Congress and its allies had time and again insulted the Chair and not adhered to the directions issued by the presiding officers.

"We are proud of the Vice President of India. He has been extremely professional and impartial," Rijiju said, pointing out that he hailed from a humble family of farmers and is the first from the Jat community to occupy the high office.