50 days of silence: Opposition questions former VP Dhankhar's absence on polling day

New Delhi: The “uncharacteristic silence” of Jagdeep Dhankhar “for the past 50 days” looms large over the Vice Presidential polls on Tuesday as his surprise resignation citing health grounds led to the latest episode of election for the second highest Constitutional post in the country.

Dhankhar (74) had on the late evening of July 21 submitted his resignation after presiding over Rajya Sabha on the first day of this year's Monsoon Session. He cited health concerns but the chatter was that his entertaining of an Opposition-sponsored impeachment notice against Justice Yashwant Varma had led to the fall out.

Dhankhar, who has now shifted to a farmhouse owned by INLD chief Abhay Chautala in south Delhi as his official residence is yet to be ready for stay, had won the elections held on 6 August, 2022 defeating Congress leader Margaret Alva 528-182. He resigned when he had two years and 20 days left in his tenure.

“For 50 days now, Jagdeep Dhankar has maintained an uncharacteristic silence,” Congress General Secretary (Communications) and Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh posted on 'X'.

“Today as the election for his successor gets underway, the nation continues to wait for him to speak out after his unprecedented and unexpected resignation as VP following the expression of his concerns on the deep neglect of farmers by the Modi government on the dangers posed by ‘ahankar' of those in power, etc,” he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav told reporters, "the entire country knows that the BJP is a use-and-throw party. The same thing happened with the Vice President, who is missing."

The buzz was that Dhankhar receiving the impeachment notice against Justice Varma from the Opposition took the government by surprise and subsequent developments led to his resignation. The government was keen that the motion be first dealt by the Lok Sabha and Dhankhar's action put Rajya Sabha also into the picture.

July 21 saw dramatic developments as news spread that the ruling BJP was planning a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar after he received the impeachment notice from the Opposition.

While Dhankhar cited health concerns in his resignation posted on social media at 9:25 PM on July 21, other developments indicated that his resignation was sudden. At 3:53 PM on July 21, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said Dhankhar will be on a one day visit to Jaipur on July 23. Earlier that day, he had also fixed a meeting of Rajya Sabha's Business Advisory Committee on July 22 afternoon.

Before dramatically announcing his resignation citing health concerns, Dhankhar chaired the proceedings for 62 minutes in Rajya Sabha, administered oaths to five new MPs, held a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee and met an Opposition MP who submitted the impeachment notice.

Sources had earlier indicated that the relationship between Dhankhar and the government has been deteriorating over a period of time, as the former Vice President was not happy with the government not arranging bilateral visits for him. There were also demands for enhanced security apparatus, which were allegedly not entertained.

Dhankhar had also put the government on the mat over issues related to farmers, once targeting Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at a public function.

He was also not on good terms with the Opposition, which had submitted a no-confidence motion that was eventually rejected by Deputy Chairman Harivansh. The Opposition had accused him of being partisan and curtailing their rights in Rajya Sabha.