"Currently out Of Delhi": Mallikarjun Kharge To VP Dhankar's Invitation To Meet Today
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge responded to the invitation from Jagdeep Dhankar, the Vice President and Chair of the Rajya Sabha and stated that a meeting would not be possible since Mr. Kharge is “currently out of Delhi”. The Congress President also added that, “the answer may not lie in a discussion in your chambers if the government is not keen on running the House”. The series of letters have been to and for the between the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and President of opposition regarding the suspension of the opposition MPs from the Parliament.
On December 23, Jagdeep Dhankar wrote a letter to Mallikarjun Kharge seeking to discuss the issue of interruptions in the House and the suspension of the MPs and stated that such interactions could not happen during the Winter session despite his repeated requests. In his letter, the Vice president said that contrary to the Congress leader’s stance, the suspension was because of the “deliberate disorder in the House by way of sloganeering, raising placards, entering the well of the House and gestiluting towards the Chair”. In the letter, Mr. Dhankar asked Mallikarjun Kharge to “spare time for interaction on December 25th”.
In his letter, Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha said the he received from the Vice President “most shockingly justifies the denigration of parliamentary practices and subversion of democracy”, hinting to the suspension of opposition MPs” from the Parliament. He also said, “the ruling party has indeed “weaponised” the “suspension of members” as a convenient tool to undermine democracy, sabotage parliamentary practices and throttle the Constitution”. He accused the move as a “deliberate design” of the ruling party to undermine the Parliament itself.
The letter also reminded that the Chairman “is the custodian of the house and should be at the forefront to uphold the dignity of the House, defend Parliamentary privileges, and protect people’s right of holding its government accountable”.
