'Pained, Tainted Day': War Of Words Between Dhankar And Kharge Over Debate On NEET Issue In Rajya Sabha

As both the Lower and Upper House of the Parliament witnessed ruckus as the Opposition bloc raised the NEET controversy in the House. The situation in Rajya Sabha escalated when Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge walked into the well to attract Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar's attention.

Kharge's act, though intended on highlighting the opposition's demand of a discussion on the NEET issue, sparked a heated exchange between him and Dhankar.

Dhankar said that he was "pained, shocked" over the incident, because it has never happened before that a Leader of Opposition himself had walked into the Well.

Meanwhile, Kharge said that he did what he did to attract the Chairman's attention as he was not looking at him even after raising hand for quite some time.

"I would like to tell the Rajya Sabha Chairman that his step-motherly treatment towards the Opposition today has 'tainted the history of Indian Parliament'," the Congress national president said.

Kharge and other leaders walked into the Well of the House amid chaos over the Opposition's demand for a discussion on the alleged paper leaks in the national-level entrance test, for which around 24 lakh students had appeared.

In the Upper House, Dhankar said, "Today is such a tainted day in the history of the Indian Parliament that the Leader of the Opposition himself has come to the Well. This has never happened before. I am pained, shocked. The Indian parliamentary tradition will deteriorate to such an extent that the Leader of the Opposition will come to the Well, the Deputy Leader will come to the Well."

Talking to reporters outside the Parliament, Kharge alleged that Dhankar intentionally ignored him to "insult" him, saying that the Chairman was only looking at the ruling party.

"So what was left for me? So to draw attention I would have to either go inside or shout very loudly. So I will definitely say that it is Chairman Sahab's mistake," the Rajya Sabha LoP added.

Kharge said that the Chairman should not do this and rather maintain the dignity of the Rajya Sabha. He said that the Opposition is worried about lakhs of children, considering the big scams of NEET exam and paper leaks.

"We did not want to disturb anyone, we only wanted to raise the issues of the students...But he did not give it a chance, did not even pay attention to it and that is why we had to do this," the Congress leader told news agency ANI.

Later, in a post on X as well, Kharge slammed the "Chairman Sahab's fault", saying that even after following parliamentary decorum and rules for 10 minutes, he couldn't get Dhankar's attention.

"We only wanted to raise the issues of the students. But they did not give it a chance, did not pay any attention to it," he said.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also came forward to back Kharge and countered the Chairman's claim that the latter was the first Leader of Opposition to walk into the Well.

"Memories are short especially when old rivals become new partners," Ramesh said in his X post. Recounting an instance from August 5, 2019, he wrote, "the-then Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad sat on the steps leading to the Chairman's presiding seat - which is very much part of the Well. This was when the Bills to abolish Article 370 and downgrade the status of J&K from a full-fledged state to a UT were being introduced."

LOK SABHA RUCKUS

Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was forced to adjourn the House till July 1 as ruckus erupted over the Opposition's demand for a discussion on the NEET UG 2024 issue.

Bringing up the issue during the discussion over the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the Parliament, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that the Centre was running away from talking about the "disaster".

He also claimed that his mic was switched off and asked the Speaker to give him access to the microphone.

However, Om Birla clarified that he doesn't hold any control over the mics of the MPs in the House, saying that there will only be discussion over the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the House.

In a video message, Rahul said it was "unfortunate" that the Opposition was not allowed to hold a constructive debate over the NEET and paper leak issue in the Parliament.

"This is a serious concern that is causing anxiety to lakhs of families across India. We urge the Prime Minister to debate on this issue and give the students the respect they deserve," the Congress MP added.