Gaurav Gogoi: ‘Dhankhar's resignation shows unease between govt and V-P … Congress will defend dignity of a Constitutional post'
The Opposition has been demanding a discussion on the Bihar electoral roll revision. Has the government responded so far?
We have not received any indication from the government about whether they are willing to discuss this issue. It is an issue related to the core of democracy. It is about a citizen's right to vote… While the government publicly says they are willing to discuss any issue, during closed-door meetings, they have refused to even mention this issue, that it would be taken up for discussion.
Since the EC is conducting the Bihar roll revision, if a discussion happens, who will reply on its behalf?
It is for the government to decide… It is not for us to decide. We want a discussion, and we will not be fulfilling our responsibility if we let the government steal votes.
The Vice-President has quit and the Congress has said there's more to it than meets the eye. What does that mean?
Principally, we have had differences with the Honourable V-P regarding proceedings in the Rajya Sabha. For us, principles of Parliamentary democracy are important and so is the dignity of a Constitutional post. And the sudden resignation, and the cryptic tweets of PM Narendra Modi. It shows the unease in the relationship between the government and the Constitutional post of V-P. It seems like a game of one-upmanship. And PM is displaying his political might in this decision. If the relationship were normal, the government would have known this was on the mind of the V-P and a smooth transition would have been ensured … The Congress will defend the dignity of a Constitutional post, especially when it is held by a farmer's son …
The process for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma was initiated by the government in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition led by the Congress introduced a similar motion in the Rajya Sabha.
When this matter came to light, the Opposition started discussing what options it had. In the Lok Sabha, we supported the motion. The Opposition also took the initiative to introduce a similar motion in the Rajya Sabha.
The Samajwadi Party, your key ally, is not supporting the motion.
We are in constant touch with the SP on all issues. Especially on issues that need to be discussed urgently, such as Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor, and Bihar SIR.
Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express.
During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state.
During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor.
Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More
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