'Part-timer' remark: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar slams P Chidambaram

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar tore into Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday (July 6) for his remark that the three new criminal laws were "drafted by part-timers," calling the comment "inexcusable" and urging him to withdraw his "derogatory, defamatory, and insulting" observation.

Dhankar said he was "shocked beyond words" when in the morning he read Chidambaram's interview to a leading national daily wherein he had said that "the new laws were drafted by part-timers".

"Are we part-timers in the Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of the Parliament... I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a narrative being set afloat and a MP being labelled as a part-timer.

"I appeal to him (Chidambaram) from this platform, please withdraw this derogatory, defamatory and highly insulting observations about the Members of Parliament (MPs). I hope he does it," the Vice President said while addressing the 12th convocation of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) here.

Dhankar further said that "when informed minds knowingly lead you astray, we need to be on guard".

"This morning, when I read a paper, an informed mind, who had been the Finance Minister of this country, a Parliamentarian for long and currently a member of the Rajya Sabha, stunned me," the VP said.

Dhankar said that he took pride in the fact that the Parliament did "a great thing" by "unshackling us from the colonial legacy" and giving three laws that were of "epochal dimension".

"From Dand Vidhan (penal law) we have come to Nyay Vidhan (law of justice)," he said.

The VP, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said that every MP had the opportunity to contribute when the three laws -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Saksha Adhiniyam -- were being debated in the House.

"With a heavy heart, I am sharing with you, that this honourable gentleman, a distinguished member of Parliament who has a great background as finance minister, did not use his lung power. He gave total rest to his vocal chords while debate was going on," he said.

Dhankar said that Chidambaram must hold himself accountable for the "failure of duty on your part, an act of omission/commission, dereliction of duty, which can never be explained".

The VP further claimed that not only Chidambaram, but other distinguished colleagues from the legal fraternity, including senior advocates, "did not come forward to help the nation".

"They had an opportunity to make this point in the Parliament. It was a failure on his (Chidambaram) part to perform his constitutional duty and obligation. How can we countenance such a man, speaking in high decibel, trying to seek resonance from the people only to unsettle the mechanism.

"I am shocked beyond words and therefore, please beware of the minds who deliberately, as a strategy, by way of a narrative, try to run down our nation, demean our institutions and taint our progress.

"They do not see the writing on the wall and engage in criticism just for the sake of it," Dhankar said.

The Vice President is on a two-day visit to Kerala.

He arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport here in the morning and was welcomed by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Subsequently, he attended the convocation at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST).

(With agency inputs)