PM Modi finally breaks silence, wishes Dhankhar ‘good health’

The prime minister extended birthday greetings to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday morning, 22 July. An hour later, around noon, he posted his first reaction to the sudden resignation of (former) Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar late on Monday evening, 21 July.

In a terse message, the PM pointed out that Shri Dhankhar had ‘got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities… wishing him good health’.

The noticeable lack of warmth and cordiality added fuel to the speculation that the vice president had to resign because of differences with the government and particularly the prime minister. Several observers noted that the decision not to accord a formal farewell to the VP and not allowing him to deliver a farewell address in the House showed the bitterness that had developed. There is surprise in political circles because as vice president and as Rajya Sabha chairman, Mr Dhankhar had been vocal in berating the Opposition and the judiciary and vigorously defended the government.

The opposition in fact had moved an impeachment motion against him, which was disallowed by deputy chairman Harivansh in December 2024.

Was a one-on-one meeting last week with LoP Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, which lasted 45 minutes, only about how to run the House smoothly? On Monday, 21 July, Kharge was given free rein to criticize the government… Had things been souring between the VP and the government for a while now?

At a recent function, Dhankhar pointed to the protocol that should be accorded to the VP but was lacking, in the context of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai being upset at not being accorded his due protocol recently.

Were his requests for a foreign tour rebuffed by the PMO?

Either way, a senior BJP minister was clueless that the VP, who was coming over for dinner, was putting in his papers en route.

In the last few days, Jagdeep Dhankhar had been meeting Opposition leaders, to whom he is believed to have conveyed his deep annoyance with the government, especially the Prime Minister. In the coming weeks, we may see Dhankhar discovering a spine; but the fact is that Dhankhar also got more than he deserved from the government.

Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha J.P. Nadda on Tuesday, 22 July, took pains to clarify that he and parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju did not miss the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee yesterday at 4:30 p.m. to slight the VP. He claimed that he and Rijiju were attending another important meeting and that the VP’s office had been informed about their inability to attend the meeting at 4:30 p.m.

This account is at variance with what Jairam Ramesh of the Congress shared. “At 4:30 p.m., the BAC reassembled under the chairmanship of Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar. 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 p.m. So something very serious happened yesterday between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to account for the deliberate absence of Shri Nadda and Shri Rijiju from the second BAC yesterday,” he posted on X on Tuesday.