MPs should perform, raise important issues in Parliament but not disrupt, says VP Jagdeep Dhankar

Chennai, Feb 28 (PTI) Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Tuesday said he expected the Members of the Parliament to perform by participating in healthy discussions and refrain from disrupting the House proceedings.

As Chairman of the Rajya Sabha he has the onus to ensure discipline in the House, besides creating an environment that paves the way for development oriented issues, he noted.

Also, he stressed the need to maintain decorum in the Rajya Sabha, the temple of democracy and justified the breach of privilege against a member (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) for dumping unauthenticated information in the Parliament.

Speaking after inaugurating the Centre for Innovation at IIT Madras here, he said in a veiled reference to the opposition parties, by virtue of his position as chairman of Rajya Sabha, he was duty bound to ensure discipline in the house.

“This is a permanent structure which can’t be dissolved. There is a model for us (on conduct),” Dhankar said indirectly referring to the recent disruptions during the Parliament session.

The tax payers’ money would go waste if the Parliament, meant to hold the executive accountable, remained disrupted without transacting any business, he said and appealed to the young minds to generate an ecosystem so that purity and sanctity of democracy and Parliament or legislature is not outraged.

“Make it a mass movement, make the representatives accountable. The people who send the MPs look up on them to perform and do not approve disruption or disturbance,” he said.

The recent stormy session of the Parliament witnessed frequent disruptions on a host of issues including a demand for joint parliamentary committee on the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

The Parliament should not become a dumping ground for any unverified information or reckless allegations, the VP further said.

“You must authenticate the information and take responsibility for it. If turns out to be wrong, then we have a mechanism in Parliament – the breach of privilege. See the global scenario, hauling someone for breach of privilege is not throttling freedom of expression but it is throttling dumping of unauthenticated information on the Parliament.”

This is Dhankar’s maiden visit to Tamil Nadu since assuming office of the Vice President last year.

Later, in a brief interaction with the students, Dhankar said: “I want MPs to perform, to raise issues of national importance. I want the temple of democracy, the Rajya Sabha, to be centre of dialogue, debate, discussion and education. I don’t want Rajya Sabha to face disruption or disturbance.”

“I am not a stakeholder in politics. I am a stakeholder in governance,” he said and appealed to the young minds to speak out on this issue in social media.

India has third largest startup ecosystem. Start Up India is not based on infrastructure, succession or lineage but it is born in the mind,” he said.