As RS Chairman, I see disruptions, not debates, laments Dhankhar

PTI, Aug 25, 2023, 2:32 PM IST

Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday lamented that while the Judiciary and the Executive are in an overdrive to deliver, the scene in the Legislature is ”dismal”.

He also said while people in the political arena have all the rights to do politics, when it comes to nation’s development, politicians must rise above party lines.

Presiding over the 25th annual convocation of the New Delhi Institute of Management here, Dhankhar said India’s justice system is very robust and performing at the highest level. He said the Executive headed by the prime minister is in an overdrive to deliver.

”But when it comes to Legislature, your representatives, the scene is dismal. As chairman Rajya Sabha, I don’t see debate, dialogue, discussion. I see disruption, disturbance,” he lamented. He told the students that they will have to create a system where those who deliver, those who vindicate their work, those who live up to constitutional expectations are appreciate.

He said people will have to speak up against those who fail to fulfil their mandate to deliver. When the Supreme Court and the Executive are delivering, why should the legislature fail, he asserted.

Referring to the issue of governance, the vice president said the country’s power corridors were once infested with power brokers and wheeler-dealers.

”Those power corridors have been sanitised. The institution of power brokers is dead, it can never revive,” he said.

Transparency and accountability, Dhankhar said, are the hallmark of governance. ”All this for one good reason — There is zero accommodation for corruption,” he noted.

In an apparent reference to certain opposition leaders, he asked if someone is booked for transgression of laws, corruption or crime, should he take to streets or go to a court.