The Congress has asked Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar not to act like the government’s “cheerleader”.

The party was objecting to the Vice-President’s veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi for saying in London that the Opposition was being denied the freedom to raise issues in Parliament. Dhankhar was Bengal governor earlier.

“There are certain offices which require us to shed our prejudices, our party allegiances and compel us to rid ourselves of whatever propaganda we may have imbibed along the way,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said. The office of the Vice-President of India is foremost among these, he added.

Ramesh said the Rajya Sabha Chairperson should be “an umpire, a referee, a friend, philosopher and guide to all”. “He cannot be a cheerleader for any ruling dispensation. History measures leaders not on the zealousness with which they defended their party, but the dignity with which they performed their roles in the service of the people,” he added.

He went on: “The Vice-President’s statement on Rahul Gandhi, therefore, was surprising to say the least. He rushed to the defence of a government from which he is constitutionally required to be at arm’s length and in a manner that was both confusing as well as disappointing.”

Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had during the first half of the budget session of Parliament expunged from the records all references made to businessman Gautam Adani and his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Questions, observations and even a poem recited by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha were expunged as were remarks by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha.

The Congress has since then been highlighting this as an attack on the freedom of expression and on the privileges enjoyed by MPs.

Dhankhar, however, took umbrage to Rahul’s allegation in London — without mentioning the Congress leader by name — that mikes were switched off in Parliament. He went on to mention the Emergency in a dig at the Congress.

“How can I sanctify a statement that mikes in Indian Parliament are put off? Has there been any illustration? Yes! We did have a dark chapter of our political history. Proclamation of Emergency was the darkest period any democracy can suffer. Indian democratic polity is now mature. There can be no repeat of that,” he said at a book release.

“Anyone who says so, inside or outside the country, that in Indian Parliament mikes are put off... imagine this being done after having held the floor for nearly 50 minutes. Such kind of wanton and misadventure to run down our democratic values cannot be countenanced. I call upon everyone — intelligentsia, media and youth who are our warriors of 2047 to rise to the occasion, expose these forces and neutralise them.”

Congress leaders say that mikes are indeed switched off in the Lok Sabha and that critical issues are not allowed to be raised. Entire sessions have been washed out because the Opposition wanted to discuss uncomfortable subjects like the Pegasus surveillance controversy and the Chinese border intrusion.

Opposition leaders have been arrested outside Parliament to stop them marching to Rashtrapati Bhavan to lodge complaints. While scams have been discussed in Parliament over the last seven decades, there are no past instances of all critical references being removed from the records. Dhankhar appeared to echo accusations by the BJP and Union ministers about Rahul defaming India on foreign soil.

“Bharat, now in Amrit Kaal, is the most functional democracy that has evoked global recognition. India is setting the global discourse on many issues,” he said. “All Indians are elated that the country is on the rise as never before and its upward growth trajectory is unstoppable as we are on our way to 2047.”

He didn’t explain his reference to “never before”. Economic growth is currently far below what it was during the Manmohan Singh government’s tenure. India has been faring badly on several global indices relating to human development, hunger, democracy and media freedom.

But Dhankhar, in an emotive and deeply political speech, said: “How ironic, how painful! While the world is applauding our historic accomplishments as a functional vibrant democracy, some among us including parliamentarians are engaged in the thoughtless, unfair denigration of our well-nurtured democratic values. How can we justify such wanton orchestration of a factually untenable narrative?”

He added: “And mark the timing of this unwholesome misadventure: while India is having its moments of glory as President of G20, there are people outside of the country working in overdrive to denigrate us.” Dhankhar did not mention the BBC documentary that looks at Modi’s role as chief minister during the 2002 Gujarat riots, or the Hindenburg report that accuses the Adani group of stock market manipulation and accounting fraud — both of which the BJP has attempted to portray as an attack on India.

Alluding to Rahul’s comments, he said: “Such misplaced campaign mode to taint and tarnish our Parliament and constitutional entities is too serious and exceptional to be ignored or countenanced. “No political strategy or partisan stance can justify compromising our nationalism and democratic values. If I observe silence on this misadventure-orchestration by a member of Parliament outside the country which is ill-premised, unwholesome and motivated, I would be on the wrong side of the Constitution. It will be constitutional culpability and outrage of my oath of office.”

Ramesh said: “Rahul Gandhi has not said anything abroad that he has not said several times here. And unlike certain other individuals, his stand does not vary depending on where he sits. “Furthermore, his statement was factual and representative of the reality on the ground. Over the last two weeks, more than 12 members of Parliament belonging to Opposition parties have been served with breach of privilege notices for protesting the suppression of their voices in Parliament on an issue that is inconvenient to the ruling regime.

“Over the last eight years, channels and newspapers have been blacked out, raided, and intimidated to the point that the only voice that is carried is that of the government. Institutions that maintained a studied distance from the governments of the past are now subordinated to the point that they choke on any order or finding adversarial to the ruling regime. Those who dissent are penalised.

“There may be no declaration of emergency but make no mistake, the actions of this regime are not those of a secure government that respects the Constitution. The Vice-President’s remarks on this occasion, as well on certain previous ones, only serve to underscore this point.”