Stepping up its attack on Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Congress-led Opposition on Wednesday called him the “biggest disruptor” in the Upper House and accused him of running the house in a partisan manner.

A day after nearly 60 Rajya Sabha members belonging to the Opposition INDIA bloc submitted a no-confidence motion to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General against Dhankhar, the house witnessed pandemonium over the move.

Addressing a joint press conference of the INDIA parties in the Rajya Sabha at the Constitution Club, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, “I am deeply saddened that the Chairman has left us with no option but to go ahead with this notice. For the last three years, instead of allowing Opposition members to raise critical issues, he resorted to schooling senior leaders, speaking down to them like a headmaster as
though there were students in a classroom.”

“For the first time in our history, we have a Chairman who openly criticises the Opposition parties in public forums and behaves as a spokesperson for the ruling party. He routinely denies the Opposition the opportunity to present their views in the house,” he added.

As the custodian of the House and the protector of the rights of every member, Kharge said, the Chairman is expected to rise above politics, seek consensus, and ensure that the voices of all the members and parties are heard.

Accusing Dhankar of openly encouraging and provoking the Treasury benches to make outrageous remarks against the Opposition, he said the Chair looks at the Opposition leaders inside the house as his opponents. “It seems to us that he is working as the spokesperson of the government for its next promotion. I have no hesitation in saying that the biggest disruptor in the Rajya Sabha is the Chairman himself. If the house is in disarray, the biggest reason for it is our Chairman,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva said, “Everyone is witnessing what’s happening in Parliament. There is a blatant attack on our democracy by the ruling party, and the fact that they are protected by the Chairman of the House is deplorable.”

“If we are not allowed to speak, then it’s a blow to our democracy. We are celebrating 75 years of adopting the Constitution, but what’s the use of it if its spirit is not upheld? It is for these reasons that we have moved a no-confidence motion against the Rajya Sabha Chairman,” he added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut said, “Parliament has a history, but the Chairman is trying to destroy it. So, we have brought this notice.”