Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday called for waging a mass movement against disruptions in Parliament as several state assemblies witnessed uproarious scenes by opposition members on various counts.
Addressing an event here, he expressed concern and pain over frequent parliamentary disruptions. His remarks came on a day when the Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh assemblies witnessed disruptions on different issues.
In Gandhinagar where the Gujarat assembly was in session, as many as 19 legislators from the opposition Congress and the AAP were suspended for a day after they shouted slogans against the BJP government before walking out of the House over the issue of a fake trainee PSI found undergoing training at a state-run police training academy.
Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary rejected Congress' demand for a discussion on the issue on an urgent basis claiming that it is linked to the future of youths.
Later, Parliamentary Affairs minister Rushikesh Patel moved a resolution for the suspension of these members for a day claiming that opposition MLAs raised placards and shouted slogans as a "pre-planned" strategy.
Maharashtra Assembly also witnessed uproarious scenes over Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's "chormandal" (a body of thieves) remark with Speaker Rahul Narvekar calling the reference for the legislature "serious" and said he would inquire into the matter.
The speaker adjourned the Lower House for the day after chaos prevailed over the Rajya Sabha member's utterance.
Narvekar said he has accepted a notice of breach of privilege against Raut and would give his decision on it on March 8.
Earlier in the day, talking to reporters in Kolhapur, Raut allegedly called the Vidhimandal (legislature) "chormandal", triggering uproar in the assembly.
The speaker said Raut's remark has hurt the "dignity, sanctity and sovereignty of the house and its members", adding "I have the constitutional obligation to protect it."
Chaos also reigned supreme in the Odisha assembly as BJP members protested over the police action on a rally of the party's youth wing in Bhubaneswar.
Soon after the House assembled for the day, BJP legislators were on their feet, protesting Tuesday's police action and rushed to the Well of the House with posters and placards, raising slogans, demanding a statement from the government on the incident.
As the chaos continued, Speaker BK Arukha adjourned the House. To break the deadlock, the speaker called an all-party meeting.
Following the meeting, Leader of Opposition Jaynarayan Mishra was allowed by the speaker to speak on the issue in the House.
In Patna, members of the opposition BJP in Bihar created ruckus inside the state assembly and staged a walkout in protest against the alleged police misbehavior with family members of a martyred Army jawan.
Meanwhile, Congress members including former ministers Tarun Bhanot, Vijay Laxmi Sadho and Jitu Patwari created ruckus in the Madhya Pradesh assembly over the LPG price hike issue the moment Devda started reading out the budget proposals.
Later, the Congress members led by former chief minister Kamal Nath staged a walkout from the House.
Dhankhar, while speaking at the birth centenary celebrations of Dr M S Ramaiah, a renowned educationist and philanthropist of Karnataka, urged people especially the youth to launch a mass movement against such conduct and build public opinion against those public representatives creating ruckus in the "temple of democracy".
He called upon them to hold their public representatives accountable and question them for such conduct, noting that his appeal is non-partisan and is not concerning stakeholders in politics, but for the welfare of the nation.
"I want to share with you my pain as well. Dr Ambedkar had a key role to play in drafting our constitution, it was debated for three years in the constituent assembly, there was dialogue, debate, discussion and deliberation. They had tough tasks before them, there were several contentious issues, there were divergent views and there were difficulties in having a common opinion," Dhankhar said in Bengaluru.
He noted that the Constituent Assembly did not have a single disturbance or disruption and no one came to the well or shouted slogans or showed placards.
"When such great work can be done by those who gave us the constitution, in the interest of the country, what is the difficulty, that we are not able to follow their conduct? We should do it," he added.
"Rajya Sabha is the platform to hold the government, the executive accountable, but disturbance and disruption happens there, what is more worrying is that you (people) are not bothered about it," he said.
Observing that there has to be a mass movement, Dhankhar said, "we are there in Rajya Sabha and Parliament to ensure that the destiny of the nation is on the right track, we have to exemplify our conduct, which everyone can emulate and follow. We don't want our boys and girls to follow disruptions, appreciate shouting slogans and showing placards."
"So my appeal to you is, to generate a climate and public opinion, use every medium that is available, so that we persuade, we plead with folded hands and request our parliamentarians that in the temple of democracy our conduct must make us proud, which is for the development of the country," he said, adding that he was leaving this thought with youngsters with a lot of hope.
The Vice President's remarks also come in the wake of the recent stormy budget session of Parliament, which witnessed frequent disruptions on a host of issues including the opposition's demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on the Adani-Hindenburg issue. Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha witnessed disruptions over the issue. The Rajya Sabha has also suspended a Congress member.
"Why should we allow few people to tarnish, taint, downsize, degrade, achievements of our hardworking people? I call upon you to think about it...," he also said.
-With PTI Input
