Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, in a letter to Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, alleged that the Centre’s attitude towards Parliament was “autocratic and arrogant”, ANI reported.

Kharge was responding to a letter written to him by Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairman, on Saturday. Dhankhar, in the letter, said that the Opposition had a “lifetime miss” by not contributing to the discussions about the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill.

The vice-president also claimed that Opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session due to their “deliberate disorder” in the House. Forty-six MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha, and 100 MPs from the Lok Sabha, after they sought a discussion on the December 13 security breach in Parliament.

Kharge, however, said that the mass suspension of the Opposition MPs was “predetermined and premeditated by the government” and was done without any application of mind.

“The Chairman is the custodian of the house and should be at the forefront to uphold the dignity of the House, defend Parliamentary privileges, and protect people’s right of holding its government accountable through the debates, discussion and reply in Parliament,” Kharge wrote to Dhankar on Saturday. “It would be distressing when history judges the presiding officers harshly for Bills passed without debate and not seeking accountability from the government.”

Dhankhar, in the letter to the Congress chief, had invited him for a meeting on Monday at 4 pm. However, on Saturday, Kharge told the Rajya Sabha chairman that he was not in Delhi and said that he could meet him when he returned.