Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
- The Congress took a swipe at former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar over his resignation
- Party Chief Mallikarjun Kharge accused Mr Dhankhar of stifling their right to speak in the House
- "But when he (Mr Dhankar) started speaking freely... then he was threatened," he said
Former Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar would stifle the Opposition's right to speak in the House but himself faced the axe when he began speaking freely and refused to align on various issues with the Centre that he strongly once defended, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday.
Amid growing speculation over the circumstances surrounding the unexpected exit of Mr Dhankhar last month, Mr Kharge, who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, alleged the former Rajya Sabha chairman was threatened and pressured to withdraw a motion by the opposition members against Justice Yashwant Varma.
"He was told to either withdraw the motion or resign. He resigned," Mr Kharge said.
The Congress President recalled how the Opposition was allegedly not allowed to speak during House proceedings during Mr Dhankhar's term and one of the MPs was suspended for seven months in 2023.
"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," he said, referring to Congress MP Rajani Ashokrao Patil, who was suspended during the Budget session in 2023 for allegedly videographing House proceedings and sharing it on social media in violation of rules. Her suspension was revoked in August that year.
"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 to withdraw the motion," he said.
He was speaking at the party's day-long conclave, "Constitutional Challenges: Perspectives and Pathways", when he made the remarks.
Opposition parties in the past alleged that they were not being allowed to speak and accused Mr Dhankhar of impartiality during House proceedings.
On July 21, Mr Dhankhar stepped down as Vice President, a little more than two years ahead of the end of his tenure. His term was to end on August 10, 2027. Officially, he cited medical reasons for his exit but sources earlier hinted at a deeper unease, possibly even a breakdown of trust between him and the Centre that he once strongly defended.
The tipping point, the sources said, came when Mr Dhankhar refused to align with the government's stand on the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma.
NDTV earlier reported that ministers met Mr Dhankhar multiple times just days before the Monsoon Session, urging him not to go ahead with the Opposition-backed motion against Mr Varma, informing him very clearly that Lok Sabha will initiate it and he must instead focus on putting the matter of the impeachment of Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court to end.
The election for the post of Vice President will be held on September 9, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
The notification for the election, which is being necessitated following Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden exit last month, will be issued on August 7 and the last date for filing nomination papers will be August 21.
The results of the election will be announced on the polling day -- September 9 -- itself, the polling body said.
