Opposition submits notice for no-confidence motion against VP Dhankhar

New Delhi: Opposition parties submitted a notice on Tuesday to initiate a no-confidence motion against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of conducting Rajya Sabha proceedings in a partisan manner. The notice, spearheaded by Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain, was submitted to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P.C. Mody.

The vice president, who serves as the ex-officio chairman of the Upper House, has faced criticism from opposition parties, especially after allowing the treasury benches to raise the Congress-Soros "link" issue in the House. About 60 MPs from various opposition parties, including Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, and DMK, have signed the notice. However, top Congress leaders holding constitutional posts, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi, did not sign the motion.

Jairam Ramesh stated on X that all parties in the INDIA Bloc had been left with no choice but to submit a no-confidence motion against the vice president due to the highly partisan manner in which he had been conducting proceedings. He noted that while the decision was difficult for the INDIA Bloc parties, it was necessary for the sake of parliamentary democracy.

TMC MP Sagarika Ghose pointed out that the motion was signed by all opposition parties and moved against the vice president, even though they did not expect to win. She mentioned that the move was meant to send a strong message in defense of parliamentary democracy and emphasized that the issue was about protecting institutions rather than targeting individuals.

Under Article 67(b) of the Constitution, the vice president may only be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all Rajya Sabha members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha, following at least fourteen days’ notice. The minimum requirement to move such a motion is 50 members.

With PTI inputs