Why did Jagdeep Dhankhar resign? Reasons ‘far deeper' than health issues, claims Congress
Dhankhar's sudden resignation, citing medical reasons, came hours after he presided over the sitting of the Rajya Sabha as chairperson during the first day of Monsoon Session of Parliament.
'To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately, in accordance with Article 67(a) of the Constitution,' Dhankhar said in his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on Monday night.
Dhankar assumed the office of Vice President on 11 August 2022, succeeding Venkaiah Naidu. The Vice President holds office for five years. So, ideally, Dhankhar should have continued to be the Vice President for two more years – until August 2027.
But Dhankhar resigned mid-term on Monday. In doing so, he became the third Vice President to quit before completing his term. Before Dhankha, VV Giri and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were the two Vice Presidents who resigned before completing their terms.
On July 22, the Congress claimed the reasons behind Dhankhar's resignation as Vice President are "far deeper" than health issues cited by him, and that his resignation speaks highly of him but poorly of those who got him elected to the post.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also raised questions over the absence of Union ministers JP Nadda and Kiren Rijiju from the second Business Advisory Committee on Monday, saying "something very serious" happened between 1 pm and 4.30 pm on Monday to account for their deliberate absence from the second BAC.
Ramesh pointed out that Dhankhar chaired the BAC of the Rajya Sabha at 12.30 pm on July 21, first day of Monsoon Session of Parliament.
"It was attended by most members, including Leader of the House J P Nadda and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju. After some discussion, the BAC decided to meet again at 4:30 PM," he said in a post on X.
At 4.30 pm, the BAC reassembled under the chairmanship of Dhankhar, the Congress leader said.
"It waited for Shri Nadda and Shri Rijiju to arrive. They never came. Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar was not personally informed that the two senior Ministers were not attending. Rightly he took umbrage and rescheduled the BAC for today at 1 PM," Ramesh claimed.
He said in a post on Tuesday that "something very serious" happened yesterday between 1 pm and 4.30 pm to account for Nadda and Rijiju's deliberate absence from the second BAC yesterday.
"Now in a truly unprecedented move, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has resigned. He has given health reasons for doing so. Those should be respected. But it is also a fact that there are far deeper reasons for his resignation," Ramesh claimed.
According to a statement issued by Vice President's Secretariat issued at 3.53 PM on July 21, Dhankhar was supposed to be on a one day visit to Jaipur, Rajasthan on July 23, 2025 to interact with the newly-elected committee members of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) Rajasthan at Rambagh Palace, Jaipur.
Hours later, however, Dhankhar resigned.
While always lauding the post-2014 India, he spoke fearlessly for the welfare of farmers, forcefully against what he called 'ahankar (arrogance)' in public life, and strongly on judicial accountability and restraint, Ramesh said.
"To the extent possible under the current G2 ruling regime, he tried to accommodate the Opposition. He was a stickler for norms, proprieties, and protocol, which he believed were being consistently disregarded in both his capacities," he said.
"Jagdeep Dhankar's resignation speaks highly of him. It also speaks poorly of those who had got him elected as Vice President in the first instance," he said.
Earlier on Monday, the opposition raised questions over Dhankhar's sudden resignation as the vice president, with the Congress saying that clearly, there is "far more to his totally unexpected resignation than meets the eye".
The Congress has also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convince Dhankhar to change his mind.
"The sudden resignation of the Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is as shocking as it is inexplicable. I was with him alongside a number of other MPs till around 5 PM today and had spoken to him over the phone at 7:30 PM," Ramesh said in a post on X on Monday night.
Dhankhar recently underwent angioplasty at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.
In his eventful tenure as Rajya Sabha chairman, Dhankhar had several run-ins with the opposition, which had also moved a motion to impeach him.
Those should be respected. But it is also a fact that there are far deeper reasons for his resignation.
The motion, the first ever in independent India to remove a vice president, was later rejected by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
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