Rajya Sabha adjourned amid uproar over Cong-Soros ‘links’ Adani issues

New Delhi, Dec 10: Noisy protests erupted in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday as treasury and opposition benches traded charges and raised slogans over Congress-George Soros “links” and Adani issues, leading to the adjournment of the House in the afternoon.

As soon as the House met at 12 noon after the first adjournment, Leader of the House J P Nadda raised the issue of alleged links between the Congress leadership and billionaire investor George Soros, claiming that they were conniving to destabilise the country.

This triggered an uproar in the House, with opposition members raising slogans against the BJP and the treasury benches demanding answers from the Congress.

The Congress’ Deputy Leader of the House Pramod Tiwari rejected Nadda’s allegations and raised the Adani issue.

As stated by a US attorney, the Adani Group paid Rs 23,000 crore as bribes, he said.

Nadda alleged that media portal Organised Crime Corruption and Reporting Project (OCCRP) is an international body that works viciously to destabilise the governments in several countries and hurt their sovereignty.

“We all know that the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha has raised (in the House) whatever the OCCRP has reported and (thereby) became a tool of the external forces to cause instability here,” Nadda charged.

Similarly, the Forum of Democratic Leader of Asia Pacific (FDL-AP), which is co-chaired by the senior-most leadership of the Congress, not only raises questions over the sovereignty of the country but also considers Jammu and Kashmir as a separate state, he said.

Without naming Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who was present in the House, Nadda questioned her role as the “co-chair of an organisation funded by Soros” in destabilising the country.

“To be associated with such organisations and to lead such organisations … co-chaired by the Congress leadership shows that it is a big threat for the internal and external security of the nation,” he said, adding, “George Soros is funding these organisations.”

“I want to know what is the relationship between the Congress party and George Soros and the bodies funded by him,” he said.

People have never forgiven those who work with foreign forces to destabilise the country. Those countries that have tolerated such external powers have suffered later, he added.

“The poor are asking whether we are standing with them on the issue of the country’s security and I want to assure you that the BJP is standing with the common people,” Nadda said.

While Nadda was speaking, the treasury benches raised slogans against the Congress and demanded answers.

Nadda further said India has become the fifth-largest economy in the world and will soon reach the third spot under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite these “conspiracies”.

There are some in the opposition who are trying to stop this journey, he alleged.

After this, Congress’ Pramod Tiwari rejected Nadda’s allegations and raised the Adani issue.

“Whatever they are saying has no basis and we have. A (US) court has taken cognisance of Rs 23,000 crore bribes (that were paid by the Adani Group)…,” he said, demanding a discussion on the issue.

Amid the sloganeering from both sides, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar allowed DMK member Tiruchi Siva to speak.

Siva said Rule 238 (2) restrains a member from making a personal charge against another member and demanded that Nadda’s remarks against Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi be expunged.

“Leader of the House is a very senior leader and seasoned and experienced. He mentioned the leader of the opposition of the other House here. That cannot be done as per the rules,” he said.

Replying to Siva, Nadda said, “I have mentioned the name of the office and not that of any particular person.”

Soon after, sloganeering from both sides grew louder and the chairman adjourned the House for the day amid the din.

Opposition’s notice for removal of VP will be rejected: Rijiju

New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday condemned the opposition INDI Alliance bloc’s move to submit a notice for removal of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, dubbing it as “extremely regrettable”.

Talking to reporters here, Rijiju said the notice would be rejected by the House as the majority of the members of the Rajya Sabha had “full faith” in Chairman Dhankhar, who is a “knowledgeable person and a gentleman”.

In a first, parties of the INDI bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in Rajya Sabha for the removal of Dhankhar, accusing him of “partisan” conduct as the chairperson of the Upper House.

“We oppose the submission of this notice. This can never be successful,” the minister said.

“This notice served by the members of the Congress party and some of its allies must be rejected and will be rejected, and this type of action will not be accepted by the House,” Rijiju said.

The senior BJP leader alleged that the Congress had submitted the notice against Dhankhar to hide its misdeeds and distract attention from the reports of its “links” with US billionaire George Soros and anti-India activities of outfits linked to him.

If the motion is moved, the opposition parties need a simple majority to get it passed, but they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House.

Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy”.

Rijiju said the Congress and its allies had time and again insulted the Chair and not adhered to the directions issued by the presiding officers.

“We are proud of the Vice President of India. He has been extremely professional and impartial,” Rijiju said, pointing out that he hailed from a humble family of farmers and is the first from the Jat community to occupy the high office.