Mystery of why Dhankhar resigned, and who will replace him as Vice President

Indisputably the most controversial occupant of the country’s second highest constitutional office in recent decades, if not of all time, Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as Vice President late Monday (July 21) evening citing “medical advice”.

If there were few takers for the reason Dhankhar cited for stepping down as Vice President of India and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha two years ahead of completing his already tumultuous tenure, it was as much a comment on his own conduct in office over the past three years as on the political environment of distrust and skepticism that has become a leitmotif of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime.

Dhankhar’s resignation, tendered in accordance with Article 67 (a) of the Constitution, was sent to President Droupadi Murmu at around 9 pm on Monday, it is learnt.

Yashwant Varma case

Less than five hours earlier, presiding over the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar had made a crucial announcement – that he was in receipt of a notice, duly signed by 68 Opposition MPs, seeking the removal of Allahabad High Court’s Justice Yashwant Varma from office and that he was admitting the same.

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Dhankhar’s announcement, many believe, caught the government unawares – not because the Centre was opposed to the impeachment of Justice Varma, from whose official Delhi residence wads of currency notes were recovered during a mysterious fire incident earlier this year, but since the notice admitted by the Rajya Sabha Chairman was essentially entirely an initiative of the Opposition.

Earlier the same day, as Parliament convened for the first day of a month-long monsoon session, the Centre had initiated similar proceedings in the Lok Sabha with an uncharacteristic twist by seeking the bipartisan support of over 150 MPs, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, for its motion to remove Justice Varma.

Shocker for govt

The surprise at Dhankhar’s supposed haste in acting on the Opposition’s notice in the Varma case – a far cry from his procrastination in admitting the Opposition’s notice seeking removal of Allahabad High Court’s Justice Shekhar Yadav, which has now been pending for seven months – was visible in the Treasury Benches when Dhankhar asked Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to inform the Rajya Sabha if any notice seeking Justice Varma’s removal had been moved in the Lok Sabha too.

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A visibly astounded Meghwal rose up and answered in the affirmative. Dhankhar then asked the Law Minister whether the “requisite number of signatures” mandated for such a notice in the Lok Sabha – minimum of 100 MPs – had been taken, to which a stammering Meghwal replied, “yes, more than 100, 152”.

Dhankhar then informed the House that the Rajya Sabha Secretary General will “take necessary steps” to set in motion the process for initiating the necessary steps on the Opposition’s notice.

Chain of events

With Dhankhar admitting the Opposition’s notice just as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is learnt to have admitted the Centre-backed notice in the Lower House, the proceedings for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma will now have to be conducted jointly by both Houses of Parliament.

Who next? A senior minister who is the last standing party stalwart from the Atal-Advani era, an LGembroiled in a turf war with an Opposition CM, a former bureaucrat-turned-Governor of a key state and even a disgruntled Congress MP — the list goes on.

This will start with Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh — who is expected to act as Chairman of Rajya Sabha till an acting or full-time Vice President is appointed — jointly deciding on the three members who will form the inquiry committee to look into the allegations against Justice Varma.

The chain of events triggered by Dhankhar’s action has, as such, robbed the Centre of boasting rights for rising above party politics to act in national interest against a judge accused of serious misconduct and possible corruption.

Sources say Dhankhar may not have intended to derail the government’s grand plan but his overzealous personal crusade for reining in the judiciary, visible since the day he first presided over the Rajya Sabha as Chairman in December 2022, when he practically condemned the apex judiciary for scrapping the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act back in 2015, may have led him to cross a red line that top echelons of the government could not tolerate.

Conspicuous by absence

All of this, of course, is within the realm of speculations that Delhi’s political grapevine thrives on.

What has added a veneer of believability to the rumours though was the absence of JP Nadda, BJP president and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, and Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju from a meeting Dhankhar had convened on Monday evening.

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This meeting was to discuss with floor leaders of various parties how they would like to proceed with the notice by BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya Dhankhar admitted earlier in the day to allow a discussion on Operation Sindoor. Only Opposition leaders turned up for the meeting, said sources.

Packed schedule

That Dhankhar had a packed schedule for the foreseeable future in his capacity as Vice President beyond his engagement with the Parliament session as Rajya Sabha Chairman has also raised doubts on whether ‘other reasons’ and not health prompted his resignation.

In fact, at 3.53 pm on Monday, the Vice President’s Secretariat had put out a press communiqué announcing that he would be travelling to Jaipur on July 23 to interact with the newly elected members of Credai, apex body of private real estate developers in India.

Though Dhankhar was treated for cardiac problems last December at Delhi’s AIIMS, he had resumed all his official activities within the same month. He had even visited the Allahabad Mahakumbh a couple of months later to take a dip at the Sangam, and had been regularly attending public events all this while.

Would a man who showed no signs of slowing down, had confirmed his presence at multiple events for the next several days, and had just presided over a hectic first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, suddenly wake up to his indifferent health and resign his post? It’s a question many have asked since news of his resignation broke.

Modi's cheerleader

There is an equally sizable section of leaders on either side of the political divide that believe Dhankhar’s supposed overreach in the Varma case was “too trivial” an issue for the Centre to either lose faith in or be rattled by him.

After all, over the past three years, Dhankhar had been one of the Prime Minister’s most strident “cheerleaders”, called out by the Opposition and political commentators alike for his brazenly partisan conduct of House proceedings.

In the process, he earned the ignominy of being the first ever Vice President of the Indian Republic against whom the Opposition was compelled to move a motion for removal from office. That motion was rejected by Harivansh, who ironically will now replace Dhankhar as interim Chairman of the Upper House.

Radio silence of govt

The irony in Monday’s late evening developments, however, is much greater. News of Dhankhar’s resignation was met with radio silence from the government’s side. Neither Modi nor any other member of his Union Council of Ministers commented on the move.

Would a man who showed no signs of slowing down, had confirmed his presence at multiple events for the next several days, and had just presided over a hectic first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, suddenly wake up to his indifferent health and resign his post?

Not only was there no appeal to him to reconsider his decision but even the basic courtesy of wishing him good health — when the very first line of his resignation letter states he is stepping down “to prioritise health care and abide by medical advice” — was not extended.

In contrast, the Opposition, which had wanted him sacked just seven months ago and which had been repeatedly denied its right to raise important issues in Rajya Sabha whenever he was presiding over the House, came out in full force urging him to reconsider his move.

Role reversal?

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, whom Dhankhar chided on multiple occasions – at times within the same day – posted on X, “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...clearly there is far more to his totally unexpected resignation than meets the eye.

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"This is not the time for speculation though. Mr Dhankar took both the Government and the Opposition to task in equal measure. He had fixed a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee tomorrow at 1 pm. He was also to make some major announcements related to the judiciary tomorrow.”

CPI(M) MP John Brittas, another Opposition leader often reprimanded by Dhankhar, too expressed shock at the resignation and agreed with Ramesh that “it can’t be his health; there is something more”. A Trinamool MP who did not wish to be named said: “Whether he got tired of justifying all the evils of this government all the time or if the government felt he had served his purpose and someone else needs to be obliged, we don’t know but this doesn’t seem to be what it is being made out to be (sic).”

The process

Per Article 67 (a), the Vice President doesn’t need the President’s assent to step down; merely a resignation written “under his hand addressed to the President” is enough. Thereafter, under Article 68 (1), an election to fill the vacancy “shall be completed before the expiration of the term (Dhankhar’s term was meant to end in August 2027)”.

Additionally, under Article 68 (2), the election “shall be held as soon as possible after the occurrence of the vacancy” and the new occupant is “entitled to hold office for the full term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office”.

Dhankhar’s resignation has already got the rumour-mill spinning. There are as many names rumoured to be “in contention” for the Vice President’s role as there are theories about the reasons that pushed Dhankhar out of office.

Who next?

The names of possible contenders, each with compelling reasons to justify their case, are being bandied about. A senior minister in the Modi government who is the last standing party stalwart from the Atal-Advani era, a Lieutenant Governor embroiled in a turf war with an Opposition chief minister, a former bureaucrat-turned-Governor of a key state and even a disgruntled Congress MP — the list goes on.

But then, if there’s one thing that the Modi government can be trusted about, it is its ability to pull a surprise; a complete dark horse far removed from the grapevine. Dhankhar’s resignation, as one BJP veteran pointed out, may not be the full story but only its prelude.