India’s opposition parties move to impeach Vice President Dhankhar

NEW DELHI: Indian opposition parties moved on Tuesday to impeach Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, a spokesperson said, accusing him of being partisan in his role as chairman of parliament’s upper house, in a first such move in the country’s history.

Dhankhar’s office did not respond to a request for comment but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Dhankhar had been “extremely professional and impartial”.

The step follows several weeks of disruption in parliament, where government and opposition parties have accused each other of not allowing legislative business by creating political controversies.

The vice president holds India’s second highest constitutional office, as well as being chair of the upper house of parliament. The vice president also acts as the country’s president if there is a temporary vacancy.

Although the move is symbolic as the opposition parties do not have enough votes to remove him, it is 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).

The opposition had “no option but to formally submit a no-confidence motion” against Dhankhar for the “extremely partisan manner in which he has been conducting the proceedings of the council of states”, Jairam Ramesh, spokesperson of the main opposition Congress party, said referring to the upper house.

The “painful decision” was taken in the interest of parliamentary democracy, Ramesh said on X.

Minister Rijiju said the move was an “assault” on the chair of the upper house and was “regrettable”.

“Don’t indulge in these kind of antics, it is not good for democracy, the vice president should be respected, the house and its chair should be respected, we oppose such notices. They can never be successful,” he told reporters.

The motion is unlikely to be heard this session as parliament is due to break on Dec 20, before a required 14-day notice period.

The winter session that began on Nov 25 has been disrupted over issues including bribery allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani, religious conflict in a northern town and ethnic violence in the northeastern state of Manipur.