You are forcing me: RS chairman warns of ‘severe consequences’ over chaos in House

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday warned the Opposition members of serious action followed by ‘severe consequences’ over ‘disrespecting’ the President’s message and creating constant ruckus in the House.

As the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled in the House, Opposition benches erupted in protest. RS Chairman’s call to maintain decorum went ignored as some Opposition members gathered in the well of the House and kept raising slogans.

The clamour continued even as the Vice President and the House chairman read out the President’s message.

“Don’t show disrespect to the President of India,” Dhankhar told the protesting members from Opposition benches.

He then urged the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge to ask them to go back to their seats. Despite Dhankhar’s appeal, the chaos continued in the House, prompting him to issue strict a warning to the agitating lawmakers.

“You have been here enough. Do you want me to take ultimate action? Take back your seat. You are forcing me to take serious action. The consequences are severe,” Dhankhar said.

As the House was reconvened after 10 minutes of adjournment, the government and Opposition engaged in a verbal duel over the JPC report on the Waqf Amendment Bill.

Several Opposition lawmakers claimed that parts of their dissent notes were erased from JPC’s report, however, the same was rejected by the government.

LoP Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of the alleged deletion of dissent notes and said, “Removing the dissent notes from proceedings is condemnable and unconstitutional”.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was quick to rebut the charges. He said that there was no deletion of any dissent note from the report.

“All JPC meets were done in a fair and transparent manner. The allegations are false, there was no violation of any rule. Don’t mislead the House,” Rijiju said in the House.

IANS