Why has the opposition bloc of INDIA brought the no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar knowing it well that it does not have the numbers to get the proposal approved by the upper house of Parliament?
The ruling coalition of NDA enjoys a majority with 125 seats in the 245-member Rajya Sabha. The BJP has the maximum number of 98 members in the house. The INDIA bloc has 88 members, Congress has the highest number of members with 27.

INDIA Accuses Jagdeep Dhakhar Of Being Biased

However, the Congress has moved the motion as a part of its well-thought strategy to send strong signals to the BJP and checkmate it in the house.
While moving the motion, the INDIA bloc accused Jagdeep Dhankhar of being biased in conducting the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha.
It has been said that the Chairman runs the upper house in a highly partisan manner. The Congress also said that it was left with no option but to collectively bring to the notice the biased handling of Rajya Sabha proceedings that undermines the democratic process.

What Did Congress Say?

The INDIA bloc MPs also regretted the move saying they resorted to this step. He said that bringing the no-confidence motion against Dhankhar was necessary to safeguard parliamentary democracy.
Taking to social media platform X, Congress General Secretary (In-charge, Communications) Jairam Ramesh wrote, “ALL parties belonging to the INDIA group have had no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion against the learned Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for the extremely partisan manner in which he has been conducting the proceedings of the Council of States.”
Justifying the decision, he said further, “It has been a very painful decision for the INDIA parties to take, but in the interests of parliamentary democracy they have had to take this step.”

Charges Against Rajya Sabha Chairman

If media reports are to be believed, the INDIA bloc has also accused Dhankhar of using privilege motions in the most unfair way to silence Opposition MPs.
He has also been accused of disparaging expressions of dissent against the government. It has been said in the motion that the Rajya Sabha chairman has denied “legitimate” requests of the Leader of the Opposition to challenge alleged falsehoods of the Prime Minister and Leader of the House.
It also said that Jagdeep Dhankar made unacceptable remarks against the Leader of the Opposition and slammed the Opposition leaders who are not even members of the house.

Congress Aims To Strengthen INDIA

The significance of bringing the no-confidence motion against the Rajya Sabha chairman can be understood by the fact that the Trinamool Congress came out to back even though it had denied backing the Congress in moving the Adani issue to the floor of the house.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party had said at the outset of the winter session that it would bring many issues on its own on the floor of the house.
The TMC indicated that the house should be allowed to run smoothly and it would not join Congress in its move to stall its proceeding on just one subject Adani.
The rift within the opposition bloc also became evident when the West Bengal Chief Minister offered to lead the INDIA bloc.
However, the TMC agreed to bring the no-confidence motion. The grand old party wants to show unity after bickering surfaced after the Maharashtra assembly election.

Congress Move To Keep Itself Relevant

After the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party suffered a rout in the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, besides showing a poor performance in Jharkhand, the party wanted to save its face.
The Congress chalked out the strategy of asserting itself in the Parliament so that other alliance partners do not ignore it or try to push it to the sidelines.
In a bid to keep itself relevant amid electoral losses one after the other, the grand old party brought something that could unite the alliance partners despite divergent and contradicting interests at least for some time.
The motion is set to fail as the INDIA bloc does not have enough numbers to get it approved on the floor of the house. However, it will give it an opportunity to attack Jagdeep Dhankhar and force him to introspect so that he mend his ways. It will also allow the Congress to slam the government.