[ Bengia Ajum ]
NEW DELHI, 22 Jul: The abrupt resignation of vice president of India Jagdeep Dhankhar has shocked the nation. At around 9:30 pm on Monday night, the vice president announced his resignation through a post on X, and tongues immediately started wagging over possible reasons for the sudden resignation.
Even though he cited health as the reason for resigning from the post, many refused to believe it.
The opposition Congress was the first to react with senior leader Jairam Ramesh describing his resignation as both “shocking” and “unexpected,” though he acknowledged that Dhankhar’s health should be his top priority and urged against speculation at this time.
The resignation was shocking because the outgoing vice president’s proposed visit to Jaipur on Wednesday, 23 July, was notified by his office on Monday.
Delhi-based senior journalist Sunil Shukla believes that Dhankar’s decision to admit Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s motion for discussion on Pahalgam and operation Sindoor played an important role in him quitting.
“I think his decision to allow Kharge to speak on Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor proved a major reason. The government was not ready to speak on this issue in Parliament. In today’s proceedings in both Houses, the behaviour of the speaker in LS and vice chairman in Rajya Sabha was in the same direction. They repeatedly adjourned the Houses but did not allow anyone from the opposition to speak on this issue,” said Shukla.
Further, there is a report that the outgoing VP had major fallout with the prime minister and BJP chief JP Nadda. “His increased media activity over the last months, which often made him a headline-maker, did not go down well with the PM and party chief. He was asked to resign by the ruling BJP itself. They were ready to impeach him if he did not resign,” said an official.
Some reports claimed that he was forced to resign after accepting an opposition move to remove a judge after a massive cash recovery from his home. This move left the government red-faced as it gave advantage to the opposition.
Earlier, opposition parties claimed that Dhankar felt humiliated after the absence of senior ministers from a key Rajya Sabha meeting chaired by him. However, union minister and BJP chief JP Nadda confirmed that both he and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had informed the vice president’s office that they would not be attending the 4:30 pm Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting chaired by Dhankhar. He dismissed the opposition charge of disrespecting the vice president.
The sudden resignation of Dhankhar in the monsoon session of Parliament has now turned the focus to who will be the next VP of India. With important Assembly elections in the pipeline, the selection of the next vice president will assume massive significance.
Further, it has given a weapon to the opposition to target the ruling BJP and has exposed chink in the armour of the ruling party.
