Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday pulled up Jairam Ramesh for his remarks against RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary.
He said that Congress member Ramesh is not eligible to be in the Rajya Sabha for his misconduct.
Congress reacted sharply to Dhankhar’s decision to allow Jayant Singh to speak in the House on the issue of Bharat Ratna being awarded to his grandfather and former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, leading to a heated exchange of words between the opposition and the ruling party. During this, Ramesh made some special comments. However, she could not be heard due to the commotion.
The Chairman warned Ramesh over his remarks against Jayant, saying, “I heard what Jairam Ramesh said to Jayant… You (Ramesh) are the kind of person who can celebrate at the crematorium.”
“The fact is that you (Ramesh) do not deserve to be a part of this House because of this misbehavior,” Dhankhar said. When Congress members protested against giving Jayant a chance to speak in the House, Dhankhar allowed Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge to speak on behalf of his party Congress.
Kharge said that there is no debate on the personalities who were honored with Bharat Ratna. He said, “I salute everyone.”
But if a member wants to raise an issue then you (the Speaker) ask under which rule. (I want to know) under which rules he (Jayant) has been allowed to speak.”
He said, “Please allow us also.” On one hand you talk about rules… you have privilege. “It should be used judiciously and not as and when you feel like it.”
The Congress President also accused the Chairman of not following the rules.
He said that if the discussion on Bharat Ratna had been included in the agenda of the House, everyone would have participated. Dhankhar expressed his unhappiness over the objections raised by Kharge.