‘Notice for my removal was a rusted knife’: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar slams INDIA bloc for no-confidence motion in Rajya Sabha | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday launched a veiled attack on the opposition INDIA bloc members over the notice for his removal in Rajya Sabha and terming it a “rusted” tool which was brought in haste.
In his first reaction over the INDIA bloc’s no-confidence motion against him, Dhankhar said, “Just look at the notice against the vice president. Just look at the six links they have given. You’ll be shocked. Chandra Shekhar ji once said, ‘Never use a vegetable-cutting knife for bypass surgery’. The notice wasn’t even a vegetable-cutting knife; it was rusted. There was haste.”
The no-confidence motion against Dhankhar was rejected on December 19.
Speaking to a group of journalists, Dhankhar said, “When I read it, I was astonished. But what surprised me more was that none of you read it. If you had, you wouldn’t have been able to sleep for days.”
He added that any constitutional position has to be vindicated by commitment to sublimity, sterling qualities and constitutionalism.
“We are not in a position to settle scores. Because for the success of democracy, two things are inalienable: expression and dialogue,” he said.
The vice president warned about coordinated attempts to damage national interests, suggesting these efforts were systematically organised by groups opposed to the country’s welfare.
“Their objective is to destroy, brick by brick, our constitutional institutions, slur the presidency, and mind you, who is the president? The first tribal woman to become president of this country,” he remarked.
Discussing parliamentary proceedings, Dhankhar noted that both Houses were receiving negative attention.
“Accountability must be enforced by media, the only conveyance to the people at large. Media can strike a chord with the people and generate pressure on public representatives,” he said.