On Friday (9th August), the opposition walked out of Rajya Sabha following a heated argument with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar over BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari’s “parivarwad” comments about Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress MPs requested an apology from Tiwari, but Dhankhar stated that the matter had been settled personally with the leaders.
While the opposition leaders were walking out, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar lashed out at Kharge and said, “I know you want to destabilise the entire nation. You are out to create chaos in the House. Nothing else is going on record. I won’t be a party to this House being converted as an epicentre of disturbance. You are determined to have your way at the cost of the Constitution. You are doing it. It is a lack of disrespect and decorum for democracy. Disrespect to the constitution,” Dhankhar said.
VP Dhankhar to Kharge-
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) August 9, 2024
"I know you want to destabilise entire nation"
"you want to create chaos"
"you're disrespecting constitution, you're disrespecting democracy" pic.twitter.com/lNrGIGwcbF
The Vice President further slammed the Kharge and other opposition leaders for walking out of the House and said,” You are walking away from your obligations. You are walking away from your duty. Honourable members, they don’t want to participate. They know only how to create chaos…The nation is a priority…”
After the opposition MPs from the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar called it a “sad day”.
Notably, BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari had recently attacked Kharge by saying that his “entire family was involved in politics”, however, Kharge pointed out that he is a first-generation politician. He thus, demanded that Tiwari’s comments be expunged. In response to this, VP Dhankhar had assured Kharge that the “parivarwad” remarks would be expunged from the record.
However, today, the opposition leaders created a ruckus and demanded an apology from Tiwari. On Friday, Dhankhar informed the House that he privately spoke to Kharge and Tiwari to address the issue. He added that Tiwari assured him to apologise to Kharge if he crossed the boundary. “Mr Tiwari told me he is prepared to apologise if he transgressed any boundary. He, instead, embellished the reputation of Mr. Kharge,” Dhankhar said.