Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar's move to resign surprised his own team. On Monday, they issued press releases regarding his schedule for the next couple of days from meetings with floor leaders of different parties in business advisory committees to a meeting with real estate builders in Rajasthan on Wednesday.
Before the sudden announcement in the late evening, Dhankhar presided over three meetings, as per individuals familiar with developments the floor leaders' meeting at the commencement of the session and two sets of meetings with the business advisory committee from noon to 1pm, to finalize bills to be considered for the session. There was no indication that he was being shown the door, claimed two MPs who attended the meetings.
He also presided over the Rajya Sabha, there as well being his normal self.
At 3.53pm, his office released a press statement about Wednesday’s plans: “The Vice-President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, will be on a one day visit to Jaipur, Rajasthan on July 23, 2025. During his visit, the Vice-President will interact with the newly elected committee members of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) Rajasthan at Rambagh Palace, Jaipur.”
Soon thereafter, around 4.07pm, Dhankhar discussed the signatures that he had gathered for the impeachment of justice Yashwant Varma, the erstwhile Delhi high court judge at the center of a corruption scandal.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh posted, “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 7:30pm. No doubt Mr. Dhankhar has to give topmost priority to his health. But clearly there is far more to his totally unexpected resignation than meets the eye.”
The resignation letter was posted on X by the vice-president’s official handle at 9.25pm.
And up to the time this paper went to bed, there was no reaction from the government either, though individuals close to the issue averred Dhankhar would hardly have submitted his resignation without consulting top functionaries.
With the controversy around Operation Sindoor and impeachment of justice Varma, the monsoon session of Parliament was all set to create headlines. However, one could not have anticipated that the chair of the Rajya Sabha would generate the largest headline on the very first day of the session.
