Why Dhankhar gave up his office?
(Dr Pentapati Pullarao)
Everything about Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation was un-usual. Dhankhar is the first vice-President in India to resign. There were 2 other vice-presidents namely, R. Venkataraman and Shanker Dayal Sharma, who resigned, as they were elected as President of India.
It was also un-usual that Dharker resigned suddenly, and no one had any idea that such a crisis was coming. On the face of it, everything for Dhankhar was going smoothly. Immediately after Dhankhar resigned on July 21, 2025, there was no reason not to believe that he really resigned for health reasons. But from July 22, 2025, the secrets were out, that there were bitter differences, largely personal.
Dhankhar’s history: Dhankhar did not have a long political history. He was a Janata MP and Minister between 1989- 1991. After that, till the BJP made him a Governor of Bengal in 2019, he had no office. Then Dhankhar became Vice President in 2022.
There was nothing in Dhankhar’s career to show he would become a rebel. The BJP was satisfied with his work as Governor of Bengal and thus made him vice-president.
Why did Dhankhar resign?
- Some information which is coming out now says that Dhankhar and that the BJP leadership started having differences on how Rajya Sabha should be conducted. There were also murmurs that the BJP was un-happy with Dhankhar attacking the judiciary frequently. There is no doubt that the BJP could not control Dhankhar on these issues.
- After Dhankhar’s resignation, some differences on various parliamentary work came out. But the question is that these are not big differences on constitution or something serious.
- There is also information that Dhankhar exchanged angry phone calls with BJP leaders. Probably, these events signaled BJP leadership that they will have to settle this quarrel right away rather than let it become bigger. Obviously, word must have been sent to Dhankhar that the BJP needs him to move on. Dhankhar could have caused much embarrassment to himself and the government if he stayed on and fought a No-Confidence motion against himself.
Earlier similar situations in India:
When Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister from 1984 to 1989, he faced serious dispute with then President Zail Singh. Zail Singh wanted to dismiss Rajiv Gandhi as prime Minister. The dispute became ugly. But Zail Singh finished his term.
There were many instances of tension between a president and prime minister earlier. But there was never tension between a Vice-President and the government. We have to thank Dhankhar for saving India great embarrassment.
Prime Minister Modi’s reaction:
Prime Minister Modi made a short comment on Dhankhar’s resignation. He said: The vice President was fortunate to have got opportunities to serve the country. I hope he takes care of his health now “. The statement reminded Dhankhar that he became Governor and Vice-President only due to him. There was no praise at all and a severe sarcastic reference.
What went wrong?
- Normally, the President and vice-president carefully stay out of controversies. There are limits to their powers. When these high constitutional personalities start speaking to much, they attract controversy, and Dhankhar did that too much.
- The government did try to restrain Dhankhar in his various public utterances. But obviously Dhankhar did not listen. Frequent attacks on the judiciary created problems for the government. Most recently, Dhankhar did not consult the parliamentary affairs minister on various issues, leading to embarrassment for the government.
- The government obviously hinted to Dhankhar to resign as they wanted to stop the problem right away. Small differences became impossible problems.
Now what?
The resignation of Dhankhar was immediately accepted by Rashtrapati and the chapter is over.
According to the constitution, a Vice President must be elected as soon as possible But there is no time limit fixed. But politics does not tolerate a vacuum. There are already many contenders for the job of vice President. The minute any political office is vacant, there is a rush! When a big politician resigns or dies, there is no time lost by others seeking that job. No one is thinking about Dhankhar now.
The BJP feels that they made Dhankhar Governor and Vice President and naturally they expect loyalty and discretion. Definitely the BJP is disappointed that Dhankhar let them down. All parties expect blind loyalty.
In all such situations, the faster the problem is removed, the better for any government. If the problem lingers on, then the government will get a bad name.
The BJP acted very fast with regard to Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Dhankhar also did the right thing. If Dhankhar lingered on in the job, he would have faced humiliation. The decision of Dhankhar to resign was right.
The Dhankhar incident does give some lessons. Maybe the BJP could have acted better and warned Dhankhar of what they expect much earlier. Maybe Dhankhar should have understood that he cannot embarrass the government which elected him and cause injury to his constitutional chair.
The controversy will die down. But definitely, it was a political storm. Better attitude and better handling could have surely avoided this un-necessary embarrassment to the high offices. There is much to learn that suddenly any politician can lose his office and that even powerful political parties cannot control events and people.
(Author is a Political Analyst based in New Delhi)