Introduction
On December 10th, Jagdeep Dhankhar faced opposition to his removal as a speaker of Rajya Sabha because of his partisan conduct. The opposition filed a notice of impeachment against the vice president demanding his removal as speaker of Rajya Sabha. A similar, non-confidence motion was conducted by the opposition during budget season, but it was postponed as the session drew close.
The removal or impeachment process is difficult as it requires majority votes not only in Rajya Sabha but also in Lok Sabha. The person holding the office of vice president automatically assumes the role of presiding officer of Rajya Sabha. The removal or impeachment would also mean the removal of the Vice President of India. No other occupant of the office has been removed till now.
Source- NDTV
Reason
The notice of removal of Vice President was issued by Congress and was supported by 70 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs. It was supported by the Congress Party, the Communist Party, the Communist Party of India Marxist, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The notice was issued because of the frequent biased behavior by the Speaker, and accused him of interrupting opposition members in the middle of their speech, turning off the microphone during the addressing session, and denying adequate debate on critical issues. The opposition also alleged Dhankhar of making personal remarks against members, displaying favoritism towards the ruling party.
Process
The process of removal of the Vice President is different from that of the impeachment of the President. The resolution to remove the chairperson must be introduced in a Rajya Sabha with at least 14 days notice. The notice was issued on Tuesday; the motion to remove the chairperson can be tabled only after 14 days have elapsed.
The motion must gain the support of the majority of the total membership in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Once the resolution is passed in Rajya Sabha, then it is required to get the approval of Lok Sabha. In Lok Sabha, it requires a majority of the members present and voting to pass. When the resolution gets approved in both houses of Parliament, the chairperson is removed. It means that the person is removed not only from the position of Speaker of Rajya Sabha but also from the position of Vice President.
Source- National Herald
8 Instances of Partisan Behavior –
Some instances where Jagdeep Dhankhar showed partisan behavior:
- The members of the opposition’s demand to discuss the farmer’s protest was rejected by Dhankhar. He denied them the opportunity to raise this issue, calling it crocodile tears. This resulted in a number of opposition leaders walking out in the middle of the session.
- During the discussion of Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification issue from the 2024 Paris Olympics, he criticizes the opposition for making it a political issue, calling it disrespectful to the athlete.
- Dhankhar denied the opposition member’s request to direct PM Modi to attend the Rajya Sabha session and address the house on the Manipur issue.
- During the 2023 Winter session, 146 MPs were suspended for demanding Amit Shah’s statement on a Parliament security breach. It was the highest number of suspensions in any session till now.
- Congress member Malikarjun Khagre entered the Well of the Parliament protesting against the paper leaks, with Dhankhar regarding such behavior as a strain on India’s Parliament.
- Jagdeep Dhankhar was criticized by Kapil Sibal for frequently interrupting the members of the opposition in the middle of their speeches.
- Dharkhar praised RSS members, calling them unimpeachable credentials, which the opposition viewed as the partisan endorsement.
- Dhankhar condemned Rahul Gandhi, without mentioning his name, saying that nothing is more culpable than the constitutional officeholder becoming part of the enemies of the nation. It was regarding the speech that Rahul Gandhi delivered in the US stating that love, respect, and humility were missing from Indian politics.
