“Never use a vegetable-cutting knife for bypass surgery” – Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar declared Tuesday, in his first comments since the opposition’s motion of no-confidence in his stewardship of the Upper House was junked for procedural irregularities.
“Just look at the notice against the Vice President… (as Vice President, Mr Dhankhar is the de facto Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha) … You’ll be shocked. (Former Prime Minister) Chandra Shekarji once said, ‘Never use a vegetable cutting-knife for bypass surgery’,” he said.
“That notice wasn’t even a vegetable-cutting knife… it was rusted. There was haste. When I read it, I was astonished,” Mr Dhankhar said at gathering of women journalists, “But what surprised me more was that none of you read it. If you had… you wouldn’t have slept for days!”
The opposition’s no-confidence motion – filed in protest by the Congress after clashing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on the Sonia Gandhi-George Soros issue – was rejected on various grounds, including Mr Dhankhar’s name being misspelt and the lack of a 14-day notice period.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh declared the motion had been tabled to create a ‘narrative’ against Mr Dhankhar. The only thing correct, he said, was that 60 opposition MPs had signed it.
After the motion had been moved, Mr Dhankhar had said he felt “personally pained” that the Congress was running a “campaign” against him and asserted that, as the son of a farmer, he would not show weakness.
“I am personally pained that the main opposition party has been running a blitz, a campaign against the Chairman. They have the constitutional right to move a motion against me, but they are deviating from the constitutional provisions. Day in and day out, a campaign is going on against the Chairman. I have studied what is happening in the public domain,” he said.