Gurugram: Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar has moved out of his official bungalow at Vice-President’s Enclave in Church Road and moved into a farmhouse in south Delhi, owned by INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala.
Since he unexpectedly relinquished his constitutional position six weeks ago for “health reasons”, Dhankar has stayed out of the public eye.
Talking to The Print, Abhay Chautala confirmed that Dhankhar moved to the farmhouse on the night of 31 August. “I informed Dhankhar Saab that it is his own farmhouse and he can reside there for as long as he wants,” Chautala said, making it clear that there was no timeline to the former vice president’s stay at the farmhouse.
Resignation during monsoon session
Dhankhar’s move follows his sudden resignation on 21 July—the first day of Parliament’s monsoon session. Former vice president wrote to President Droupadi Murmu citing health reasons and used Article 67(a) of the Constitution to resign from office with immediate effect.
The timing of his resignation shook the political sphere, as Dhankhar had given no previous indication of wanting to quit. His resignation made him only the third vice president in India’s history to have resigned mid-term.
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Long-standing political connections
The relationship between Dhankhar and the Chautala clan goes back a long way, woven over years of political bonding.
Chautala said their bond originated during the political forays into Rajasthan by Chaudhary Devi Lal, grandfather of Abhay Chautala.
“He (Dhankhar) was close to Chaudhary Devi Lal from his student life,” Abhay Chautala said. The turning point was in 1989 when Dhankhar, who was then a pleader (lawyer), had a meeting with Devi Lal in Rajasthan when the latter was planning to contest the Lok Sabha election from Sikar against the then Speaker Balram Jakhar.
“When my grandfather asked him what he was up to these days, he replied that he was a pleader. Chaudhary Devi Lal advised him to remove the ‘p’ from his line of work and he would make him a leader. That’s how Dhankhar-ji fought his first election in 1989,” Chautala reminisced, emphasising the wordplay that converted “pleader” to “leader”.
Tribute to Om Prakash Chautala
Dhankhar’s affiliation with the Chautala family was in evidence when the last rites of Om Prakash Chautala were held in December 2024. The ex-vice president had attended the state funeral of the five-time Haryana chief minister at Teja Khera village in Sirsa district, where he paid moving tributes to the political doyen, who had passed away at the age of 89.
Prior to this in March 2025, Dhankhar had laid the foundation stone of Om Prakash Chautala’s museum at JCD Vidyapeeth, which is an educational institution owned by the Chautala family, further establishing the long-standing mutual relationship between the families.
Election for the new V-P
With Dhankhar’s resignation, the nation is now headed for the exercise of electing a new vice president, scheduled to be held on 9 September. The Vice President of India is chosen by both houses of Parliament via an electoral college. As per the rules, the former occupiers of office must vacate official houses within a reasonable period of time so that it can be readied for the new resident. Hence, Dhankhar’s shift to the south Delhi farmhouse is an inevitable transition.
Dhankhar, who had been the 14th Vice President of India since August 2022, was Governor of West Bengal prior to his promotion to India’s second-highest constitutional position. Recently, Dhankhar applied to resume his pension as a former MLA, which had been paused during his higher office.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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