Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar of toeing the government’s line and argued that normal functioning of Parliament was not possible without adherence to constitutional principles and parliamentary practices.

Responding to a letter from Dhankhar that stressed the need to move ahead, Kharge replied: “I am in agreement with you that we need to move ahead. The answer lies in holding ourselves true to the Constitution, Parliament, the parliamentary practices and innate belief in democracy vis-a-vis an authoritarian government that is bent upon subverting the Parliament. I would like to state with all humility that the answer may not lie in a discussion in your chambers if the government is not keen on running the House.”

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh too said there was no conflict with the presiding officers and that it was the government that had created hurdles to the smooth functioning of Parliament.

Talking to a news agency, Ramesh said: “The Chairman’s role is different. Our fight is not against the Chairman. Our fight is with the government, with the ruling party. The government has to decide whether they want to run the House or not, whether they want to allow the Opposition to speak or not. That’s the real issue.”

Ramesh added: “The Speaker and the Chairman are the constitutional authorities. We have full respect for them. The problem lies with the government. Why is the home minister refusing to give a statement in the House about the December 13 incident? He is talking to the media about the incident. That’s undermining Parliament.”

However, the Opposition parties including the Congress are deeply anguished at the role of the presiding officers, particularly the Rajya Sabha Chairman who they feel has not only acted as the government’s advocate but allowed himself to be used in the partisan political warfare.

Dhankhar’s reference to his caste and the farming community in the context of the mimicry by a suspended MP has convinced most Opposition leaders that he is bent on engaging in a kind of politicking that is not in tune with the high constitutional office he holds.

Dhankhar has provided the BJP with enough political ammunition by creating an impression that the Opposition combine INDIA, particularly Rahul Gandhi who filmed the mimicry, has insulted Jats.

The Congress and its allies might have suffered politically because of that impression but another ugly episode, emotionally linked to the Jats, has erupted to neutralise the impact. Before the fire lit by Dhankhar could spread, Olympic medal winner Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling in protest against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s continuing dominance over the wrestling federation.

The image of the crying Jat woman washed away whatever little heartburn the alleged insult to Dhankhar had fostered.

Bajrang Punia, another wrestler of international repute who too is a Jat, has returned his Padma Shri over the Brij Bhushan controversy, bringing the issue of sexual exploitation of athletes to the forefront of the national discourse.

Had these incidents not occurred simultaneously, Dhankhar may have succeeded in inventing a huge emotional weapon for the BJP. That has created intense bitterness among Opposition leaders, with that sentiment reflected in the letters Kharge has written to Dhankhar over the past three-four days.

In his latest reply to Dhankhar, Kharge wrote: “I would like to clarify on the points that you have raised and request that you examine my concerns objectively and with neutrality as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Your letter unfortunately justifies the autocratic and arrogant attitude of the government towards Parliament. The letter most shockingly justifies the denigration of parliamentary practices and subversion of democracy.”

Hinting at the Chairman’s failure to enforce parliamentary norms and traditions, Kharge wrote: “I recognise it is well within your powers as Chairman to decide on these notices (submitted by the Opposition demanding the home minister’s statement). However, it was regrettable that the Chair condoned the attitude of the home minister and the government who did not wish to make a statement on the floor of the House. It was even more regrettable that the home minister made his first public statement before a TV channel when Parliament was in session and the Chair did not find that ‘sacrileging the temple of democracy’.”

Kharge further said: “You have also mentioned that disorder was deliberate and strategised and predetermined. I would like to submit that if anything, it is the mass suspension of the Opposition MPs from both Houses of Parliament that seems to be predetermined and premediated by the Government and I am most sorry to say, executed without any application of mind, as can be seen by the suspension of an INDIA party MP who was not even present in the Parliament.”

Recalling that a Union minister had informed an Opposition MP that most Opposition MPs would be suspended before the home minister came to the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said: “We would have expected the Chairman to have inquired if such a threat was indeed issued. Such comments grossly undermine the Chair who we believe is the final authority on conducting the House including suspension of members.

“If indeed the suspension of members is happening on the direction of the government, this is ‘sacrileging the temple of democracy’. I am pained to point out that both the Prime Minister and the home minister gave interviews to the media rather than make statements on the floor of the House. The legislature and the executive are independent and the Chair did not seem fit to ensure that the government is held accountable to Parliament rather than speaking to the media”.

Promising to meet the Chairman when he returns to Delhi, Kharge added: “The ruling party has indeed ‘weaponised’ the suspension of members as a convenient tool to undermine democracy, sabotage parliamentary practices and throttle the Constitution. If anything, privilege motions have also been weaponised to muzzle the voice of the Opposition. This is a ‘deliberate design’ of the ruling dispensation to undermine Parliament itself.”

He said: “The Chairman is the custodian of the House and should be at the forefront to uphold the dignity of the House, defend parliamentary privileges, and protect people’s right of holding its government accountable through the debates, discussion and reply in Parliament. The Chairman should also kindly note that the government has escaped accountability on all crucial issues like serious border incursions by China, or continued unrest in Manipur or the recent intrusion in the Lok Sabha by visitors who had been facilitated entry by a BJP MP. It would be distressing when history judges the presiding officers harshly for bills passed without debate and not seeking accountability from the government.”