Know What’s The 14-Day Challenge For Opposition’s No-Confidence Motion Against VP & Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar

New Delhi: In a historic move in Indian Parliament’s history, the Congress-led Opposition moved a no-confidence motion against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to seek his removal from Rajya Sabha chairman post, claiming him to be ‘partisan’, on Tuesday. Congress MP (Rajya Sabha) Jairam Ramesh said all parties belonging to the INDIA group had no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar. The leader claimed such a move was taken for the “extremely partisan manner in which he has been conducting the proceedings” of the House.

“It has been a very painful decision for the INDIA parties to take, but in the interests of parliamentary democracy they have had to take this step,” he said.

The signatories of the motion included MPs from the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Samajwadi Party, the DMK and the RJD. The motion was submitted to the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha after chaos erupted in both Houses of Parliament as BJP MPs and opposition members clashed over issues, including alleged links between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and US businessman George Soros. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha houses were adjourned on Tuesday following such chaos.

Among the 60 signatories, Cong top brass missing?

About 60 opposition MPs — including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK — have signed the notice, claimed the PTI, quoting sources. But reports claimed top Congress leaders have not signed the notice. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the floor leaders of various opposition parties are reportedly not among the signatories, sources told the PTI.

Will the motion against Dhankhar stand?

According to Article 67(b) of the Constitution, “Vice-President may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council and agreed to by the House of the People; but no resolution for the purpose of this clause shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.” Reports claimed that the resolution had been drafted, signed and submitted under Article 67 (B) of the Constitution.

But the rule states that a 14-day notice is mandatory to submit a motion for VP’s removal. But presently only eight working days are left in the current winter session, which will end on December 20. So, this remains a hurdle for VP’s removal. Experts opined that the notice could be disallowed on technical grounds as the 14-day window is not available, but the next session could be counted and the motion could be taken up later.

Considering the numbers in favour of the ruling BJP-led NDA, the motion against the RS chairperson is likely to be defeated in the House. But by moving the motion on Tuesday, the INDIA bloc, according to experts, wants to send a message against Dhankhar for allegedly not giving a chance to the opposition leaders to speak in the House. The RS has a strength of 234 MPs. The BJP has 96 MPs and ruling NDA 112. Six nominated MPs often side with the government in case of a vote, taking the strength of NDA to 118, which is two more than the simple majority of 116. The Congress has 27 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and combined opposition strength is 85. So, the numbers are in favour of the NDA, led by BJP.