Congress party President, Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, in his recent remarks, said that the ex-vice president and Rajya Sabha speaker Jagdeep Dhankar ‘suppressed the opposition from speaking in the house but faced the same stifle with the Centre as he started having different opinions on various matters’.
"The previous Vice President did not allow us to speak. He used to suspend us; one of our women MPs was suspended for seven months," Kharge said, while giving reference to an incident involving Congress MP Rajani Ashokrao Patil. Rajani was suspended during the 2023 Budget session for allegedly videographing House proceedings and sharing them on social media, in violation of the rules.
"But when he (Mr Dhankar) started speaking freely, started talking about rules, started talking about the action against Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Verma, then he was threatened, pressure was put on him,” the Congress chief then added.
In the midst of mounting rumours regarding the reasons behind Dhankhar's abrupt departure last month, Kharge claimed that the former chairman of the Rajya Sabha was coerced and threatened to drop a motion against Justice Yashwant Varma.
"He was told to either withdraw the motion or resign. He resigned," Kharge claimed.
Dhankar, who on July 21 stepped down as Vice-President, faced similar allegations by the opposition parties in the past, too (of not letting them make their points and speak).
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