New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an uncharacteristically brief, one-line statement Tuesday, wishing ‘good health’ to Jagdeep Dhankhar, who abruptly resigned as Vice President of India on Monday evening, fuelling theories of a chill in relations between the government and the occupant of the second-highest constitutional post before his exit.
“Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India. Wishing him good health,” Modi posted on X, nearly 13 hours after Dhankhar announced his resignation while citing his need to “prioritise health care and abide by medical advice”.
The apparent lack of warmth in Modi’s farewell message to Dhankhar, who frequently faced Opposition criticism for his rather obsequious attitude towards the central government, appeared to align with the Congress’s claim that “far deeper reasons” lay behind his shock resignation.
A senior Congress Rajya Sabha MP told ThePrint that hours before his resignation, Dhankhar Monday proposed a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Upper House at his residence over lunch Tuesday. However, “within hours, he resigned, citing ill health. Clearly, it is not adding up,” the MP said.
In his capacity as the Rajya Sabha ex-officio chairman, Dhankhar had called two Business Advisory Committee meetings Monday, said Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary (communications).
Rajya Sabha Leader of House J.P. Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had attended the first meeting at 12.30 pm. They, however, skipped the second meeting at 4.30 pm.”Everyone kept waiting for Nadda and Rijiju, but they did not show up. The most surprising was that Mr. Dhankhar was not personally informed that the ministers would not attend the meeting. Naturally, he felt upset about this and postponed the next BAC meeting to Tuesday at 1.00 pm,” Ramesh posted on X. “This indicates that something serious must have happened between 1.00 pm and 4.30 pm Monday, which led Nadda and Rijiju to skip the evening meeting, deliberately.”
He added that “the truth is that there are deeper reasons behind it [Dhankhar’s resignation]”.
Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate and Abhishek Manu Singhvi also called Modi’s post “cold and curt”. “If being cold and curt had a face—it’s this tweet! Such indifference!” Shrinate posted on X, sharing the PM’s message.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha suggested that Dhankhar’s statement in the Upper House Monday, involving a notice signed by 63 Rajya Sabha Opposition MPs for a motion to impeach Justice Yashwant Varma, did not sit well with the central government, which wanted to be seen as taking the lead in removing Varma, instead.
“Maybe it is due to the fact that he spoke about listing the motions moved by MPs against Justice Varma and Justice (Shekhar) Yadav, or perhaps something else. But something did happen. Because Nadda and Rijiju did not attend the BAC meeting at 4.30 PM on Monday. Perhaps there were disagreements. Normally when vice presidents retire, there are farewell speeches, farewell dinners are held. What happened that he had to resign so abruptly on health grounds? The fact remains that he is very healthy,” Tankha said in a video statement.
Presiding over the House on Monday, Dhankhar had referred to the impeachment notice by Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha against Justice Shekhar Yadav, who allegedly delivered a hate speech at a gathering in December 2024. Dhankhar said while the move was stalled due to the discovery of a “forged signature”, he would deal with the issue separately.
A motion for the removal of a judge has to be signed by not less than 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and 100 in the Lok Sabha.
“I have already indicated to this august house on an earlier occasion that if the requisite number of members who verify their signatures and the number goes above 50 or more, I would proceed and deal with the issue of a signature that has been twice there not owned by the member in a different manner (sic),” Dhankhar said.
On Justice Yadav, Dhankhar said, “It (notice to bring an impeachment motion) is signed by more than 50 members of the Council of States and thus, it meets the numerical requirement of signing by members of Parliament for setting in motion a process for removal of a high court judge (sic).”
Dhankhar also asked Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal whether a similar notice had been submitted in the Lok Sabha, and Meghwal answered that 152 Lok Sabha members had submitted a similar notice to the Speaker. Dhankhar then announced that the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman will constitute a committee to examine the charges levelled against the judge.
“The secretary general will take the necessary steps in this direction,” Dhankhar further said. Hours later, he posted his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu on X, triggering a political earthquake in Delhi’s power corridors.
Some Congress leaders, including Ramesh and Tankha, also heaped praises on Dhankhar, against whom the Opposition had moved a motion of no-confidence last year, in what came across as attempts to heighten the discomfort within the BJP around the development.
Tankha said Dhankhar’s resignation was “a big loss”, and lauded his standing as a jurist. Ramesh, who had once called Dhankhar a “cheerleader” of the government, said Dhankhar was a “stickler for norms, proprieties, and protocol, which he believed were being consistently disregarded in both his capacities.”
While always lauding post-2014 India, he spoke fearlessly for the welfare of farmers, forcefully against what he called ‘ahankar’ in public life, and strongly on judicial accountability and restraint. To the extent possible under the current G2 ruling regime, he tried to accommodate the Opposition,” Ramesh posted on X.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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