New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said he was forced to step into the well of the House because Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar did not give him a chance to speak even when he raised his hand for a long time.
Kharge blamed the Rajya Sabha chairman for the incident and said that he went to the well to get his attention.
The comments came as a rare occurrence: Kharge, the Congress president, entered the well of the House along with other opposition MPs as they demanded a discussion on the NEET issue.
Kharge told reporters outside Parliament that he raised his hand for a long time and waited for the president to notice him, but his attention was focused on the treasury benches.
He said he was forced to go to the well to get the president's attention and accused him of disrespecting parliamentarians.
Kharge also said that the opposition wanted to raise the issue of NEET as it affects thousands of students and did not want to disrupt the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's speech.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X and said Kharge was not the first opposition leader to tread the well of the House.
"It is being spread that Mallikarjun Kharge ji is the first opposition leader in Rajya Sabha to enter the well of the House in protest. Memories are short, especially when old rivals become new partners," Ramesh said.
"On August 5, 2019, the then leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, sat on the steps leading to the post of president, which is largely part of the Well. It was then that the projects were presented of law to abolish Article 370 and downgrade it. “The status of J&K from full-fledged statehood to UT was being introduced,” he said.
Dhankhar on Friday expressed anguish over Kharge's entry into the Well of the House during an opposition protest, saying it is the first time a person holding the position has engaged in such conduct.
On Friday, the House witnessed three adjournments due to protests and opposition slogans.
Kharge blamed the Rajya Sabha chairman for the incident and said that he went to the well to get his attention.
The comments came as a rare occurrence: Kharge, the Congress president, entered the well of the House along with other opposition MPs as they demanded a discussion on the NEET issue.
Kharge told reporters outside Parliament that he raised his hand for a long time and waited for the president to notice him, but his attention was focused on the treasury benches.
He said he was forced to go to the well to get the president's attention and accused him of disrespecting parliamentarians.
Kharge also said that the opposition wanted to raise the issue of NEET as it affects thousands of students and did not want to disrupt the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's speech.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X and said Kharge was not the first opposition leader to tread the well of the House.
"It is being spread that Mallikarjun Kharge ji is the first opposition leader in Rajya Sabha to enter the well of the House in protest. Memories are short, especially when old rivals become new partners," Ramesh said.
"On August 5, 2019, the then leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, sat on the steps leading to the post of president, which is largely part of the Well. It was then that the projects were presented of law to abolish Article 370 and downgrade it. “The status of J&K from full-fledged statehood to UT was being introduced,” he said.
Dhankhar on Friday expressed anguish over Kharge's entry into the Well of the House during an opposition protest, saying it is the first time a person holding the position has engaged in such conduct.
On Friday, the House witnessed three adjournments due to protests and opposition slogans.
