India upper house deputy chair rejects opposition move to impeach VP Dhankar

Published
0

A move by Indian opposition parties to impeach Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for allegedly performing his job in a partisan manner was rejected, parliament said on Thursday.

The vice president, India’s second highest constitutional office, acts as the chair of the upper house of parliament, known as the Rajya Sabha, and opposition parties have accused Dhankhar of being partisan in his role.

Sansad Television, the parliament’s TV channel, said in a post on X that the opposition’s notice has been dismissed.

Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy chairman of parliament’s upper house, said the notice to impeach Dhankhar was “severely flawed” and aimed at demeaning the constitutional office of vice president.

India’s vice president also acts as the country’s president if there is a temporary vacancy.

The winter session of parliament has been disrupted several times with government and opposition parties accusing each other of not allowing legislative business by creating political controversies.

Bribery allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani, religious conflict in a northern town and ethnic violence in the northeastern state of Manipur are some of the issues that have jolted the proceedings of the legislature in this session, which began on November 25 and was scheduled to break on Friday.

Although the opposition was unlikely to garner enough votes to remove Dhankhar, the move was expected to worsen the fraught relations between the opposition and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, as Dhankhar was elected as a candidate of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Jairam Ramesh, spokesman of the main opposition Congress party, said last week that the opposition had “no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion” against Dhankhar for the “extremely partisan manner” in conducting the proceedings of the house.

The BJP and main opposition Congress party did not immediately issue any statement on the matter.

Opinion

Editorial

Referendum talk
Updated 14 Nov, 2026

Referendum talk

Unless the PPP is deliberately using Sindh as a bargaining chip, it should issue a clarification with a clear, consistent position on new administrative units, not one tailored to protect its home turf.
Mineral wealth
Updated 14 Nov, 2026

Mineral wealth

Minerals should not be presented as a solution to Pakistan’s long-term economic difficulties. The aim should be to build an industrial base rather than export raw materials.
Late diagnosis
14 Nov, 2026

Late diagnosis

AS we mark World Diabetes Day today, Pakistan faces a troubling question: how many people are living with diabetes...
Climate challenges
Updated 13 Nov, 2026

Climate challenges

Pakistan cannot afford to confront its climate crises one disaster, one season and one international summit at a time.
Under fire
Updated 13 Nov, 2026

Under fire

KP police are increasingly vulnerable as they play a frontline role in ongoing operations against terrorists.
Used car imports
13 Nov, 2026

Used car imports

THE government’s effort to restrict used car imports appears to be faltering. So suggest the numbers. Despite...