Rajya Sabha

On the last day of the first phase of the Budget Session on February 13, the proceedings of the Lok Sabha went on smoothly throughout the day, but the uproar continued in the Rajya Sabha on the last day as well, following which Chairman Jaideep Dhankhar adjourned the House proceedings till March 13.

Digvijaya Singh, the Congress' Rajya Sabha MP, said on Thursday, "Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar appoints his staff on Standing Committees Yes it is unprecedented. But the explanation given is also quite inappropriate. Doesn't it reflect Chairman Rajya Sabha's lack of confidence in the existing staff of RS Secretariat?" VP is Chairperson of Council of States Ex-officio.

Of these 13 MPs, eight are members of the Lok Sabha and five of the Rajya Sabha. The MPs have been nominated by a jury committee of eminent parliamentarians and members of civil society, headed by Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and co-chaired by former Chief Election Commissioner S. Krishnamurthy. The jury also nominated two departmentally related.

On Monday, the last day of the first phase of Parliament's budget session, the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha could not proceed smoothly due to the ruckus created by the opposition parties. Dhankhar was constantly seen trying to convince the opposition MPs, but he adjourned the House till March 13 when the uproar continued.

While adjourning the House, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said, "There have been deliberate obstructions and this is not the way to run the House. We have already wasted a lot of time." Leader of the house Piyush Goyal said that the opposition is creating hurdles in the functioning of the house. Earlier in the day, Speaker Dhankhar got miffed with Mallikarjun Kharge's remark.

Kharge was speaking about the suspension of Congress MP Rajani Patil and expunction of his part of speech by the chair during motion of thanks on President's Address. "LoP, you've indicated in so many words that the Chair is acting under pressure. These words are expunged. You are forfeiting your right to hold the floor of the House... every time you are saying that the Chair.

Addressing a press conference, senior Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "Expunction is not justified by any reading of the relevant Rules, like Rule 380 qua the Lok Sabha and similar Rules in the Rajya Sabha dealing with expunction. None of the tests therein are even applicable, much less met.

Taking a 'serious view' of the matter, Dhankar called it an 'unwholesome activity' on her part. "In public domain yesterday, on Twitter, there was a dissemination of a video relating to proceedings of this House. Rajani Ashokrao Patil was engaged in this unwholesome activity and what has been seen is a matter that must engage our attention," the Rajya Sabha Chairman said.

Sanjay Singh said all the notices were rejected and alleged that the government was stalling the discussion on Adani row. He had demanded suspension of business under rule 267 on Wednesday too, but the notice was rejected by the chair after which the AAP staged a walkout. The notice said that the public sector banks and LIC have lost money.

"The parliamentary democracy survives on ruling of the chair and once the ruling has been given it can't be questioned as there are codified rules for it," said Dhankhar. "My ruling has been continuously disregarded," he added.