The Rajya Sabha chairman is an umpire and cannot be a cheerleader for any governing dispensation, the Congress said in a statement on Thursday in response to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s criticism of Rahul Gandhi’s comments in the UK.
The Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar attacked Mr. Gandhi for his remarks regarding microphones being turned off in Parliament and claimed he would be on the “wrong side” of the Constitution if he remained quiet on the matter. This prompted a response from the Congress.
The vice president made some comments about Rahul Gandhi’s address given in the United Kingdom, according to a statement from Congress general secretary for communications Jairam Ramesh. The vice president made the comments at a book launch event on Thursday.
There are some positions that force us to put aside our biases, party allegiances, and any propaganda we may have consumed along the road.
The Vice President of India, whose extra duties include serving as Chair of the Rajya Sabha, is first among these, according to the Constitution, Mr. Ramesh said.
Therefore, he said, the vice president’s remarks about Mr. Gandhi were at best unexpected.
Mr. Ramesh said, “He (Jagdeep Dhankhar) rushed to the defense of a government from which he is legally required to be at arms’ length and in a manner that was both confusing and disappointing.
Rahul Gandhi, according to him, hasn’t said anything overseas that he hasn’t said numerous times in this country. And unlike some other people, his position does not change based on where he sits, Mr. Ramesh added.
The Congressman contended that Mr. Gandhi’s assertion was accurate and reflected the situation as it actually existed. During the previous two weeks, “more than twelve Members of Parliament from Opposition Parties have been served with Breach of Privilege Notices for objecting to the suppression of their voices in Parliament on an issue that is unfavorable to the ruling regime,” he said.
He claimed that over the past eight years, newspapers and networks have been raided, blacked out, and intimidated to the point where the only opinion heard is that of the government.
He asserted that institutions that once kept a respectful distance from the governing regimes have become so subordinated that they are choked by any order or conclusion that is opposed to it.
“Those who disagree face punishment. No emergency has been declared, but there is no doubt that this regime is not acting in a safe manner or with regard for the Constitution, according to Mr. Ramesh.
He claimed that the Vice President’s comments on this occasion, as well as on some prior ones, only served to emphasize this point.
He asserted that it would be a betrayal of the Constitution and everything our founding fathers battled for to be afraid to express disagreement in the present.
We at the Indian National Congress have consistently opposed this government, and we will keep doing so, according to Mr. Ramesh.
The Chairman, however, serves as a judge, an umpire, a friend, a philosopher, and a mentor to everyone. He is not allowed to support any particular form of government. The dignity with which leaders carried out their duties in the service of the people, rather than the zeal with which they protected their party, is how history judges leaders, according to the Congress general secretary.
K C Venugopal, the general secretary in command of the Congress, also criticized the vice president in a tweet.
He declared that misrepresenting parliamentary procedures was unworthy of the vice president’s position.
The proceedings last session hit a new low when the LS Speaker deleted Rahul Gandhi ji’s accusations regarding the Adani scam, according to Mr. Venugopal. “Opposition MPs’ mics are routinely switched off,” he continued.
The vice president should make sure that the opposition is allowed enough room to raise matters of public importance, regardless of how uncomfortable they make PM Modi’s government, he said, as opposed to denying something that is in the open.
Speaking at a launch gathering for Karan Singh’s book on the Mundaka Upanishad, a longtime Congress leader and former lawmaker,
The remarks made in London by the former Congress president were thoroughly discussed by Mr. Dhankhar.
The world is praising us for our great achievements and our healthy, functioning democracy. Some of us, including some lawmakers, are unfairly and carelessly disparaging our carefully cultivated democratic principles, he claimed.
On Monday, Rahul Gandhi informed British lawmakers in London that the Opposition frequently has their microphones turned off in the Lok Sabha. He made the remark at a gathering hosted by longtime Labour Party opposition politician of Indian descent Virendra Sharma in the Grand Committee Room of the House of Commons compound.
“How do we justify such wanton orchestration of factually untenable narrative and mark the timing,” the vice president asked in his speech. Being the G20 president is giving India a moment of pride. Additionally, there are citizens of the nation who are working nonstop to disparage us. The seriousness and rarity of this misguided campaign strategy to defame and discredit our Parliament and Constitution cannot be overlooked. No political plan or partisan position can justifiably excuse us from upholding our nationalism and democracy principles. I stand before a noble spirit; if I remain silent about this misadventure, which was orchestrated by a Member of Parliament from outside the nation and was poorly thought out and motivated, I would be in violation of the Constitution. In an obvious allusion to Mr. Gandhi’s comments, Mr. Dhankhar said, “It would be constitutional culpability and outrage of my pledge.
