Two days after Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he was pained when Leader of the Opposition and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge entered the well of the House to protest, the two leaders shared several light moments this morning.
As he rose to speak during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Mr Kharge said he won’t be able to stand for long due to knee pain. The Chairman promptly responded, “You may address (the House) while sitting.” When the 81-year-old Congress chief said that he will sit only if the Chairman permits him to, Mr Dhankhar said, “We have to ensure that you are comfortable while addressing the House. So if the physical disability or pain is of that extent that here and outside you are unable to stand, then you may take your own call.”
Mr Kharge added with a smile that a speech while seated is not as impassioned as one delivered standing. The Chairman agreed with a ‘jazba’ remark as both leaders smiled. Mr Dhankhar then added in a light vein, ‘I have helped you in this case’. To this, Mr Kharge replied, ‘Sometimes you help us, and we remember too’. This evoked a laugh from the Chairman.
There was more to come. As Mr Kharge thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to take part in the debate, some members from the treasury benches started laughing. Mr Kharge asked why they were laughing and added, “This is how they mislead me.” This evoked another round of laughter in the House. Former UPA spokesperson Sonia Gandhi was also seen smiling. The Congress president then added, “Mr Chairman also misleads me.”
Responding to this, Mr Dhankhar quipped, “We will delete this, that I do it too.” This time, it was Mr Kharge’s turn to laugh.
More banter was the follow. In his response to the President’s address, Mr Kharge said it was just focused on praising the government. At his point, the Congress president started referring to the speech by BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi. “Excuse me, I sometimes get confused between Dwivedi, Trivedi and Chaturvedi. I come from the South so I am not well-aware of this,” he said as the members banged the benches. Mr Dhankhar said with a smile, “We can have a half-an-hour discussion on this if you want.”
The light banter was in stark contrast from the mood in the House on Friday when Opposition members drew strong remarks from the Chairman for entering the Well. The Opposition MPs were demanding a debate on the irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical admissions in colleges across the country.
Mr Dhankhar had then said he was “pained” and “shocked” that the Leader of the Opposition had come to the Well.
In response, the Congress chief had said he was compelled to enter the Well because the Chairman “deliberately ignored me”. “It is his mistake… I went inside (the Well) to draw his attention… I was drawing his attention. He was only looking at the ruling party. As per the rules, he should look at me when I draw his attention. But instead, he deliberately ignored me to insult me. So what option was left? To draw attention, I would have to go inside or shout very loudly. I will definitely say that it is Chairman Sahab’s mistake.”
