Vice President and chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar, raised the tension with the Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, in a heated turn of events on Tuesday.
Dhankhar reacted sharply to Kharge and said he was humiliated four times by the member from Maharashtra for disrespecting the Chair. Such body language reflected some impertinence and disrespect, for instance: ‘You (Kharge) cannot run down the chair every time.
You cannot disrespect the chair every time,’ the furious Dhankhar got provoked and outburst, ‘You stand suddenly and speak whatever you want without understanding what I am saying.’
The exchange increased when Dhankhar offended Congress MP Jairam Ramesh by saying that the latter was more able than Kharge. Kharge responded in slang by saying, “The one who made me is sitting here. No Jairam Ramesh can make me”
Kharge criticized the vice president, a Brahmin, saying he had called those measures ‘Gandhian motivated’ because he had in mind the ‘varna (caste) system’ that informed his actions.
A week ago, Dhankhar voiced discomfort at the way Kharge stormed into the House’s Well during an opposition Bring demonstration. A PTI report also highlighted that the two leaders had playful interactions on Monday. Kharge asked to speak in the House while in knee pain, to which Dhankhar agreed.
The outburst affirms that the fight between the ruling and the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha is still a burning issue, coupled with questioning the Chair on many issues.
