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'Out of Delhi': Congress chief Kharge replies to Dhankhar's invite to meet today
Kharge claimed the mass suspension of MPs “seems to be predetermined and premeditated by the government”.
Congress president and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge, in a rebuttal to Vice President and Chairperson of the Upper House Jagdeep Dhankhar's letter, said the mass suspension of the MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha “seems to be predetermined and premeditated by the government”.
The Congress president wrote back after V-P Dhankhar invited him to discuss on range of matters in his chamber today. Kharge said he is currently out of Delhi and proposed a fresh meeting after he returns to the national capital. “While I am currently out of Delhi, it would be my privilege and indeed my duty to meet you at your earliest convenience as soon as I am back in Delhi,” he wrote.
Also read: Winter session disruptions were ‘deliberate, strategised’: Dhankhar to Kharge; suggests ‘moving ahead’
Both Dhankhar and Kharge have been exchanging words through letters over concerns related to the suspension of MPs, disruption in Parliament and the passage of Bills among other issues.
Kharge also agreed with Dhankhar's suggestion to move ahead amid issues following the Winter Session, and said “the answer lies in holding ourselves true to the Constitution, the Paliament, the parlimentary practices and innate belief in democracy vis-a-vis an authoritarian government that is bent upon subverting the Paliament.”
Earlier, the Rajya Sabha Chairperson expressed his dismay in a letter to Kharge and said he had to “painfully” suffer Kharge's stance to “reject” his offer for interaction in the Chamber of the House which is “unwholesomely unprecedented” and “not in sync” with the well-established parliamentary practice. He further claimed that the disruptions caused in Parliament were “deliberate and strategised”.
Dhankhar also said he had exhausted all other means from his end including brief adjournments and seeking interactions before taking the “unpleasant step” of suspending the MPs. To this, Kharge recalled the notice he placed under Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha seeking Union home minister Amit Shah's statement on the security breach incident on December 13.
“I recognise it is well within your powers as Chairman to decide on these notices. However, it was regrettable that the Chair condoned the attitude of Hon'ble Home Minister and the government who did not wish to make a statement on the floor of the House.”
On December 13, two persons jumped into the Chamber of Lok Sabha from the vistors' gallery causing panic among the parliamentarians.
The incident sparked a ruckus in the following proceedings of the session with the Opposition leaders demanding a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah, which also led to a series of suspensions of MPs and a premature sine-die adjournment of the session. A total of 146 MPs--100 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha--were suspended.
