Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar voiced his displeasure today, Friday, June 28, with Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's entry into the House Well during an opposition protest, claiming it was the first time a person in that position had done so.
On Friday, June 28, the House adjourned three times owing to opposition protests and sloganeering, PTI reports.
Soon after laying the listed papers on the House table during the morning session, Dhankhar informed that he had not accepted 22 notices from opposition leaders to suspend the day's scheduled business and hold a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
This sparked protests from opposition party MPs. They began raising slogans, and several of them invaded the Well, forcing the proceedings to be adjourned.
Just before the adjournment, BJP lawmaker Sudhanshu Trivedi began speaking on a motion to thank the President for her address to the joint session of Parliament.
When the House reconvened, there were almost identical scenes, and Trivedi's address was disrupted.
At one point, Kharge entered the House Well to join the opposition protest.
Dhankhar commented that the act of an opposition leader entering the Well was unprecedented and had placed a "stain" on Parliament.
"I am pained and surprised that Indian parliamentary tradition will stoop to such low that the leader of the opposition will troop into the Well," he said, before adjourning the proceedings till 2 pm.
"The kind of conduct, ignoble conduct, a conduct that will hurt every Indian, will put this institution to shame. We are here elected, and get the prestige of being members of the upper house, the house of elders. If in this House we conduct ourselves in this unruly manner, it is most unfortunate," the chairman said later, reflecting on the incident.
The House then resumed debate on the motion of thanks before adjourning for the day at roughly 6 pm.
The Rajya Sabha will meet again on Monday at 11 am.
