It was one of those rare occasions in Parliament when the Rajya Sabha Chairman backed the Opposition and silenced the ruling party's members. As the final day of the Rajya Sabha's special session began on Wednesday, the Upper House presided over by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar observed a minute of silence for the 121 victims of the Hathras stampede on Tuesday.
After this, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge sought to put forth a request, which was allowed by Vice-President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. Referring to the Hathras tragedy, Kharge said that people were congregating at such events due to their blind faith. "There are no laws to control such events. What should be the maximum attendance at such events based on the area, accessibility, and availability of hospitals in the vicinity... These should be considered while formulating the laws," he said.
"Even police officers visit such satsangs [congregations]. Many such fake godmen are in jail," Kharge said.
However, as soon as he said these words, the treasury bench started making a ruckus over his remarks. At this juncture, VP Dhankhar intervened and sought to silence the ruling coalition's MPs. He also asked JP Nadda, the leader of the Rajya Sabha, to rein in the Treasury bench MPs. "Please sit down. Leader of the House, what is happening? If the Leader of the Opposition stands to speak, I will not count anyone interrupting. The LoP is making a very important point... This is an important point about partisan stance," Dhankhar said.
Dhankhar then invited Kharge to his chamber after the Rajya Sabha session on Wednesday to discuss the issue further. He said it would pave the way for a healthy tradition if Nadda and Kharge got together and worked out a solution to this [deciding on the formulation of a central law] to avoid such tragedies.