Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday left a meeting to discuss the weekly agenda midway, citing lack of decorum amid arguments between the government and the Opposition over the agenda.
It is a rare incident when the Chairman, who heads the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), leaves midway through the meeting. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla had once refused to preside over proceedings after Opposition leaders refused to end disruptions.
A section of the Opposition said that a senior Congress leader, supported by others, was pressing for a debate on the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) controversy and threatened not to cooperate with the government on the latter’s legislative business. But Dhankhar’s office refuted the claim and said, “There was an overall lack of decorum.”
According to a functionary, Dhankhar stood up and commented on the lack of a civilised conversation before leaving the room.
There are three working days left in the ongoing budget session, which ends on April 4. The Opposition is keen to have a debate on the EPIC issue. The Trinamool Congress has spearheaded the protests against alleged duplication of EPIC numbers in the Rajya Sabha, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had suggested that the government could agree to a discussion on the voter list under any rule it prefers.
The government however, didn’t indicate its willingness to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) indicated it replaced more than 90% of the “duplicate” EPICs with unique identifiers, much ahead of the three-month deadline set by the poll panel for the exercise, people familiar with the matter said, adding that the remaining cards will also be replaced soon.
{{/usCountry}}The government however, didn’t indicate its willingness to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) indicated it replaced more than 90% of the “duplicate” EPICs with unique identifiers, much ahead of the three-month deadline set by the poll panel for the exercise, people familiar with the matter said, adding that the remaining cards will also be replaced soon.
{{/usCountry}}On Friday, Dhankhar chaired the last BAC of the Rajya Sabha in the budget session. The meeting assumed importance as the Centre is set to bring the waqf bill amendments next week.
According to Opposition leaders, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh insisted on a debate on the EPIC issue and is learnt to have told the government that there is no point discussing the government agenda. Ramesh also told the government managers that they can hold the debate under any rule. He said that it is a matter of trust and the Opposition will not cooperate with the government on the passage of bills.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju and the BJP’s Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sudhanshu Trivedi were present in the meeting.