Oppn submits notice for motion to remove V-P

New Delhi: In a first, parties of the INDIA opposition bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in Rajya Sabha for the removal of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of "partisan" conduct as the chairman of the Upper House. If the motion is moved, these 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". On behalf of the opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 opposition MPs -- including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party -- to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody. This is the first time that a notice for bringing a motion to remove the Vice President has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. A 14-day notice has to be given and it should be approved by the Deputy Chairman before the motion is taken up. Notably, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the floor leaders of various opposition parties are not among the signatories to the notice, the sources said.

Similar notices for removal of the Speaker of Lok Sabha have been submitted in the past, but none against the Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman. Three motions have come in the past against Lok Sabha Speakers - against G V Mavalankar on December 18, 1954, against Hukam Singh on November 24, 1966 and against Balram Jakhar on April 15, 1987. While the motions against Mavalankar and Jahar were negatived, that against Hukam Singh was rejected as less than 50 members rose in the chair to take up the motion. The present move, spearheaded by the Congress, comes in the wake of verbal clashes between opposition parties and the Rajya Sabha chairman.