Dhankhar-Jaya face-off: Walkout over Dhankhar’s tone; VP calls it disrespect to Constitution

NEW DELHI — Uneasy relations between Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and opposition parties on Friday erupted in a heated exchange between the chair and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, leading to a walkout by opposition parties and Dhankhar calling it “disrespect to democracy and constitution”.

The cine star objected to the “tone” in which Dhankhar addressed her as well as switching off the mike of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, triggering a heated exchange. The Chairman, who is also the Vice President of India, said he can’t be “schooled” and that Bachchan “may be anybody… a celebrity” but she has to observe decorum.

As Dhankhar refused to allow her or any one from the opposition to speak, INDIA bloc parties staged a walkout, which was slammed both by the chair and the treasury benches.

Leader of the House and Union Minister J P Nadda called the opposition behaviour “highly indecent and irresponsible”.

Trouble broke when the Congress MPs sought an apology from BJP member Ghanshyam Tiwari for comments he had made on Kharge last week.

Dhankhar insisted that the matter on an issue spoken in the House had been resolved in his chamber. He went on to state that Tiwari had instead praised the Leader of the Opposition to the position of god. But he did not accede to opposition MPs request for either Tiwari repeating his words or Kharge being allowed to speak on the issue.

This lead to protests from opposition benches with DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, saying the tone of the statement makes all the difference.

Bachchan indicated that she too wanted to speak on the issue and Dhankhar called her by her full registered name, Jaya Amitabh Bachchan.

“Main kalakar hoon, body language samajhti hoon, expression samajhti hoon… par sir, mujhe maaf kariega magar apka tone jo hai is not acceptable. (I am an actor. I understand body language and expression. Please forgive me but your tone is unacceptable). We are colleagues sir, you may be sitting on the chair,” said Bachchan.

Dhankhar shot back saying he does not want to be schooled, and said, “Enough of it”.

“Jaya ji, you’ve earned a great reputation. You know, an actor is subject to the director. You’ve not seen what I see from here… I don’t want schooling. I am a person who has gone out of the way, and you say my tone…,” responded Dhankhar.

As opposition MPs objected, he said, “enough of it… no.”

“You may be anybody, you may be a celebrity, (but) you have to understand the decorum. Nothing doing,” he told Bachchan.

The comments infuriated the opposition MPs who began shouting slogans.

To this Dhankar said, “never carry this impression that only you build reputations. We come here to build reputations. We live up to reputations.”

As TMC’s Sushmita Dev objected to the remarks, saying Bachchan was a MP and not a celebrity in the house, Dhankhar shot back saying, “a senior member of the Parliament has no licence to run down the reputation of the chair, to question tone and tenor.”

“Yes I had to be in reaction mode to take care of the situation. I have the highest respect but to make it a habit… my tone, my language, my temper. I don’t go by script of others. I have my own script. I am not operated by anyone else,” he said, ordering nothing that opposition MPs speak will go on record.

“Nothing will happen Kharge ji,” he said.

As opposition MPs said they are staging a walkout in protest, Dhankhar remarked, “I know you are wanting to destabilise the entire nation. You are out to create chaos in the House.”

“I shall not be party to this House being converted as epicentre of disturbance,” he told Kharge. “You are determined to have your way at the cost of Constitution. It is lack of decorum, disrespect to democracy, disrespect to constitution.”

Striking down the opposition’s demand of apology by Tiwari, Dhankhar said that the BJP member had actually praised Kharge in Sanskrit and “people don’t apologise when they praise” and claimed the matter had already been amicably sorted out between the two in his presence in his chamber.

However, Kharge insisted Dhankhar to tell “the same thing you have explained to me in the chamber”, saying, “it is better that you do it in the House”.

The chairman defended Tiwari, saying,”Even after that meeting, I myself read every word of that, and then I found that there was nothing objectionable. I had also pleaded with the Leader of the Opposition that if he finds something objectionable, he may indicate.”

The Rajya Sabha chairman complimented Tiwari for “using Parliamentary language, respecting Leader of the Opposition (Kharge) in the highest of traditions and expressing to me that he is prepared to apologise if he has transgressed in any manner”.

Dhankhar further said he has read Tiwari’s speech carefully, and not only was there no transgression by the BJP MP, he embellished the well-deserved reputation of Kharge.

“If I praise Leader of the House, if I express gratitude to the senior leadership, Ghanshyam Tiwari has praised Kharge, would any member of this House including (Congress leader) Pramod Tiwari, point out a single word from the address of Ghanshyam Tiwari to which exception can be taken,” Dhankhar asked.

Congress’ Pramod Tiwari had said the tone and the words used by BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari were “undoubtedly” against the decorum of a public office.

Yet, Dhankhar defended Tiwari, saying he was speaking in Sanskrit, which is a language that requires some kind of orientation.

DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said whenever the Leader of Opposition gets up to speak, the Chairman should give him the floor.

Soon after, as Dhankhar allowed actor-politician “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan” an opportunity to speak as the “last speaker” on the issue, the two were involved in a face-off as Bachchan raised objection to his “tone”and the former asserting that even a celebrity like her needs to follow decorum.

Opposition parties also staged a walkout following the exchanges between Dhankhar and Bachchan.

Referring to the Opposition party members, Dhankhar said: “… You are walking away from your obligations, you are walking away from your duty, they don’t want to participate, they want to create only chaos, I am surprised, the nation is a priority, the nation is always first”.

Dhankhar said, “you (Kharge) are determined to have your way at the cost of the Constitution, you are doing it, it is lack of decorum, disrespect to democracy, disrespect to Constitution, you are walking away from your obligations, you are walking away from your duty, they don’t want to participate, they know only how to create chaos, I am surprised, absolutely, the nation is a priority, the nation is always first…”

Amid sloganeering in the House, Dhankhar said, “…what a sad day, August 9, 1942, call of Mahatma Gandhi, Quit India, and this House paid tribute to the martyrs … they are quitting Parliament, they are quitting their duty, they are quitting their oath to Constitution…”

Dhankhar said at a time when the country is rapidly progressing, some people, taking note of happenings in the neighbouring country, are engaging in inflammatory, condemnable narratives and the ideology to which they subscribe.

“It has become a habit, Leader of the House, with some of them, that a segment will speak out against the nation,” the Rajya Sabha chairman said, adding that it will set afloat a narrative which tarnishes institutions, demeans democratic culture, weakens progress.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the act of the opposition is condemnable and there is no such example also. He has been a member of parliament as well as MLA several times but has never seen such an incident.

Supporting the Chairman, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said: “You tried to solve the problem between Ghanshayam Tiwadi and the leader of the opposition. You have called both of them to their chamber and resolved the matter.”