Rajya Sabha adjourned for day amid ruckus

PTI New Delhi: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday afternoon amid disruptions as the members of the treasury and opposition benches traded charges over a no-trust motion brought against Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the BJP’s allegations of the Congress leadership’s “links” with billionaire investor George Soros. The Upper House has been witnessing a ruckus as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been alleging links between the Congress and Soros, and has also slammed the opposition for moving the motion against Dhankhar.

The first adjournment of the day happened shortly after the House met at 11 am, when it was adjourned till 2 pm, and then for the day. After the laying of the listed papers and reports during the pre-noon session, the chairman rejected six notices demanding an adjournment of the scheduled business of the day and taking up matters mentioned therein. Dhankhar said he had given a ruling earlier rejecting five notices and the sixth notice given by Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury regarding alleged derogatory statements made by an Allahabad High Court judge is also rejected.

After all the six notices were rejected, Leader of House J P Nadda rose to speak and strongly condemned Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for criticising the chairman at a press conference outside the House on Wednesday. Citing a rule, Nadda said questioning or criticising a ruling of the chairman amounts to contempt of both the House and the Chair. “At a press conference on Wednesday, Kharge ji criticised the chairman. This is obj ectionable and condemnable. It sets a wrong precedent. This needs to be condemned by one and all,” Nadda said. Refuting Kharge’s allegation made at the press conference that he was not given an opportunity to speak in the House, he said letters were written by the chairman to the leader of opposition (LoP) time and again, asking him to participate and come to the chairman’s chamber. But Kharge did not go to the chairman’s chamber and also did not attend the last meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, he said.

The Congress has even tried to demean the constitutional post by criticising “the Chair as a cheerleader” on its official X handle, Nadda pointed out. In an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi, he claimed that a senior Congress leader was seen making a video of the chairman’s mimicry in the recent past and said, “The Congress has no interest in democracy and no respect for parliamentary practices.” The press conference was held to divert attention from the main issue, Nadda said, adding, “What is the relationship between George Soros and (Congress leader) Sonia Gandhi? The country wants to know. Soros gives billions of dollars of investment to destablise the country.” This triggered a further uproar in the House. Sonia Gandhi was in the House.

The chairman gave the floor to Kharge to respond to Nadda’s remarks but the Congress leader could not speak much as the members of the treasury benches were on their feet, sloganeering. “They want to divert attention from the main issue,” Kharge said amid intense sloganeering from the treasury benches. He urged the Chair to bring the House in order, but Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

Oppn not given time to speak: Cong MP

The Rajya Sabha MPs of the Congress met Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday and shared their concern over opposition leaders not being given time to speak in the House, party leader Pramod Tiwari said. Tiwari said they have registered their protest with the chairman over Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge not being given time to speak on the floor of the House, while ruling party leaders were given sufficient time.

"Congress MPs went to the chairman's office and we told him that look at how long (JP) Naddaji, and (HD) Deve Gowdaji spoke.... They were given 10-15 minutes to speak, but when the leader of opposition stood up to speak with your permission, he did not even get a minute," Tiwari said. "We want to raise the issue of Rs 2,300 crore bribe being given by (the) Adani (Group) to people in the (Narendra) Modi government, the riots in Sambhal (in Uttar Pradesh), the situation in Manipur, where we can see a total failure of law and order.... We want to raise the issues of workers and farmers,’’ he said.