Deviation from rules sacrileging this temple, says Dhankhar

Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Thursday that everyone in the Parliament should have the highest regard for conforming to the rules of the House, as any such deviation is tantamount to being sacrilegious to the "temple of democracy."

"If we start having our practice my way or no way, that is not only not democratic, that will pose a great challenge to the very existence of this sacred theatre. I have no doubt any deviation from the rules is virtually sacrilegious to this temple," Dhankhar said during the Rajya Sabha session today.

Answering a question by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on "how to persuade the chair," he said that historically the chair has been persuaded by conforming to the rules.