People holding constitutional posts not in a position to settle scores, says Jagdeep Dhankar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar emphasizes commitment to constitutionalism, criticizes media sensationalism, and calls for media accountability in democracy.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) said that people like him, who hold constitutional post are “not in a position to settle scores” and that they have to be “vindicated by commitment to sublimity, sterling qualities and constitutionalism”.

His remarks, addressing women journalists who are part of the Women Journalists Welfare Trust, comes in the backdrop of a no confidenc motion moved against him by the Opposition, and which was later dismissed by deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh.

Mr Dhankar said that the media is in a challenging environment, including “disruptive technologies” and situations where “narratives are given wings only to generate sensation”, where quite often, according to him, narratives are “fuelled in an orchestrated manner by forces that are determined to be inimical to the interest of this country.”

He took the example of the way the notice of no confidence was moved against him, including the substantive part of the notice. “Look at the notice against the Vice President….just look at the six links they have given. You will be shocked. Late prime minister Chandrashekharji had said that a kitchen knife should never be used for surgery, but those who moved the notice against me didn’t even have a proper kitchen knife, the knife (referring to examples to illustrate the opposition’s grievance against the Vice President) was rusted,” he said.

He also explained the background from which the no confidence motion against him emanated. He said that he had allowed certain remarks made by then Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to be read out, on the basis that nothing can be beyond the purview of the House, and the same was subject to regulation by the House and Chairman. Among the six links cited by the opposition in their notice against the Vice President was his criticism of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s comment that the government was trying to “delegitimise the judiciary”. “I know the UPA chairperson (Sonia Gandhi) is a noble lady, but she dragged in the constitutional position,” he said.

Vice President Dhankar said that it was the job of the media to be alert on these issues, and said that freedom of expression and dialogue were the two things that were needed for the success of a democracy. “Have you noticed in 10,20,30 years any great debate? Have you noticed any great contribution made on the floor of the House? We have learnt to live with order, which is only disorder and nothing of order. But the pressure has to come from your (media) category. Accountability has to be enforced by media because media is the only conveyance to the people at large. Media can strike chord with the people, generate pressure on public representatives,” he said.