Simmering tensions between Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Opposition benches came to a head on Friday, with Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan taking exception to the Chair’s “tone and tenor” and the subsequent arguments triggering an angered walkout.

Dhankhar said the Opposition wanted to subject the temple of democracy to “sacrilege” and “destabilise the entire nation”, prompting INDIA bloc members to step up efforts to submit a notice to move a resolution for his removal.

Sources said signatures had been collected and plans were being made to submit the notice on Monday, but the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die ahead of schedule.

Though the Opposition lacks the numbers to push through the resolution, the effort is aimed at sending a message. It’s a pressure tactic to secure the importance that the Opposition deserves and enable the leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, to speak without his mic being switched off.

Also, the Opposition wants the House to be run by rules and conventions, and to ensure that no personal remarks are made against any member.

In a post on X on Friday, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said: “Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji is a strong voice of democracy. He has 50 years of experience in parliamentary politics. Insulting him inside the Parliament, not allowing him to speak, switching off the mike and insulting senior women members by those in power is completely unacceptable.

“Our Parliament has been a witness to the fact that no matter how many opposition members there were, their voices were heard. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia’s sharp debates and Pandit Nehru’s patience in listening to them are still cited as examples. What is happening in Parliament today has never happened in the history of independent India, nor will the people of the country accept it.”

The Opposition had also staged a walkout on Thursday for not being permitted to raise the disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat from the Olympics.

On Friday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked Dhankhar to give his ruling on certain personal comments made by BJP member Ghanshyam Tiwari against Kharge during Tiwari’s speech on the budget.

Kharge had raised the issue on August 1 and Dhankhar had assured the House that he would get back to it. On Friday, Dhankhar said Tiwari had praised Kharge in his speech and there was no need for him to apologise.

Jaya accused Dhankhar of being harsh towards the members. “I am an actor. I understand body language and expressions. Please forgive me. Your tone is not acceptable. We are colleagues, sir. You may be sitting in the Chair,” she said.

Dhankhar said Jaya might be a celebrity but could not question the Chair. “Jaya ji, you earned a great reputation. I am a person who has gone out of the way. And you say, my tone. No. Enough of it. You cannot have it. You may be anybody, you may be a celebrity, you have to understand the decorum,” he said.

Trinamool Congress member Sushmita Dev protested the use of the term “celebrity” for Jaya, a senior parliamentarian. The Opposition parties staged a walkout after that.

“I know you want to destabilise the entire nation. It is a lack of disrespect to democracy,” Dhankhar said.

He said the issue about the comments on Kharge had already been settled but it had been raised “as a design, as a strategy, as a well-planned orchestration to find an alibi to walk out from the House”.

“Today the top brass was here. What I saw was failure of commitment to nationalism, failure of belief in our country, disregard of our Constitution,” he said.

“These are not ordinary disruptions. These are a mechanism to insult democratic values. They are trivialising democracy, institutions for petty gains at the cost of the nation,” Dhankhar said. “Democracy, they want to put into peril. Temple of democracy, they want to sacrilege.”

Leader of the House J.P. Nadda Nadda moved a censure motion against the Opposition.