rajya-sabha-adjourned-amid-heated-exchanges

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday afternoon amid a ruckus, as the treasury and opposition benches traded accusations over a no-confidence notice against Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the BJP's allegations regarding the Congress leadership's "connections" with billionaire investor George Soros.  

 

The House witnessed two earlier adjournments during the day.  

 

The first occurred during Zero Hour in the pre-lunch session, when Chairman Dhankhar rejected six notices to suspend the day’s scheduled business in favour of discussing issues raised in the notices.  

 

As opposition members voiced their objections, BJP leader JP Nadda criticised Congress president and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge for holding a press conference where he criticised Chairman and Vice President Dhankhar.  

 

"The Chairman's ruling cannot be questioned or criticised. To do so is contempt of the House and the Chairman," Nadda stated.  

 

He also repeated allegations of links between Congress leaders and Soros, claiming the billionaire has funded efforts to destabilise India.  

 

"What is the relationship between Sonia Gandhi and Soros? The country wants to know," he said, triggering further uproar and leading to the second adjournment, which lasted until 2 pm.  

 

When the House reconvened at 2 pm, Derek O’Brien, the TMC Parliamentary Party leader, attempted to raise a point of order. Amid the continued uproar, Chairman Dhankhar declared that it would not be recorded.  

 

As the sloganeering persisted, Dhankhar called on former prime minister and JD(S) MP HD Deve Gowda to speak, but his address was drowned out by the chaos.  

 

Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge then attempted to raise another point of order, saying: "The House is not in order. They are making reckless allegations. You are listening and encouraging..."  

 

Kharge added, "Democracy runs on two wheels – one is the opposition, and the other is the ruling party, with you as the umpire. But if you take one-sided decisions, it is a setback for the country and democracy..."  

 

Amid the commotion, Chairman Dhankhar adjourned the House for the day.