The Vice President said that the temples of democracy cannot be allowed to be vandalized. (Twitter @VPindia)
The former Congress chief recently told British MPs in London that working microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the opposition.
Indirect attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi On his remarks regarding the opposition’s microphone being switched off in Parliament, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said there cannot be a bigger lie than this to set a narrative and that it was done during the “dark chapter” of the Emergency. Was, but it is not possible now.
The Vice President said that the temples of democracy cannot be allowed to be sullied and regretted that “some people” are trying to undermine the country’s achievements because of their short-sightedness.
Addressing a gathering at the Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut, Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar said, “Democratic values are important and we cannot allow the temples of democracy to be vandalized because we are the mother of democracy.”
#Watch , Meerut: “I am the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha is a big panchayat where the mike is never switched off. Somebody goes out and says mikes are off in this country… yes there was a time during Emergency when mikes used to be off”: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar pic.twitter.com/izXBuKcYEg– ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2023
On Rahul Gandhi’s microphone remarks, the Vice President said, “There cannot be a bigger lie than when someone tries to set a narrative by saying that in the biggest panchayat, Parliament, mikes are switched off. Due to short sightedness some people do not control their speech and say anything to undermine the immense achievements of this great nation.”
The former Congress chief recently told British MPs in London that working microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the opposition.
Dhankhar said it was his constitutional duty to “tell the world at large that the mikes are not off in the Parliament of India”. There was a time when this was done and it was a dark chapter which we call Emergency, but it is not possible now,” he said.
The Vice President also said that it was “sad” to see that some people say “what is happening in the country”.
“Which country can claim that their judiciary works at lightning speed, but our Supreme Court works like this. We are the most functional democracy in the world, no other country can claim that they have democracy from Panchayat (grassroots level) to Municipality to State and Centre. There may be opinions but it (India’s democracy) is alive and functional,” Dhankhar said.
During his UK visit, Gandhi also alleged that the media, institutional structures, judiciary and parliament were all under attack. He also expressed regret that democratic parts of the world, including the US and Europe, have failed to notice that “a large part of democracy has come undone”.
Dhankhar had on Thursday attacked Gandhi over his microphone statement, saying he would be on the “wrong side” of the Constitution if he remained silent on the issue.
The Congress had hit back at Dhankhar for criticizing Gandhi’s remarks, saying the Rajya Sabha chairman is an umpire and cannot be a cheerleader for any ruling party.
(With PTI inputs)
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