New DelhiJul 23, 2025 19:18 IST
First published on: Jul 23, 2025 at 19:18 IST
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Two days after raising questions on the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Vice-President and saying that there was something more to it than meets the eye, the Congress on Wednesday went a step ahead, proposing at a meeting of the Rajya Sabha’s Business Advisory Council (BAC) that Dhankhar, who was also the ex-officio Chairman of the Upper House, be given a farewell.
Sources said Jairam Ramesh, the Congress’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, made this proposal at the BAC meeting, but the government was learnt to be not in its favour.
The Upper House is set to give a farewell to seven retiring members Thursday, which include the PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss and the MDMK’s Vaiko. It is learnt that during the BAC meeting Ramesh said there should be a “farewell function” for Dhankhar as well.
The Congress, sources said, wanted to make a political point by seeking a farewell for Dhankhar who, they believe, was forced to resign. “The government must answer why he (Dhankhar) resigned, what are the reasons, what is the secret behind it. We feel that ‘daal mein kuch kaala hai (there is something fishy)’. He seems healthy and always keeps a good vocabulary. But what happened? He used to defend the BJP and the RSS more than the BJP-RSS people themselves,” Congress president and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, told reporters today.
Kharge said the country should be informed about the reason for Dhankhar’s resignation and “who was behind it”.
While resigning two years before the end of his tenure, Dhankhar cited health concerns and “medical advice.”
Sources said none of the other Opposition members of the BAC backed the Congress’s farewell demand for Dhankhar during Wednesday’s meeting.
While Dhankhar has been silent since his surprise announcement Monday night, the political row his exit has triggered has refused to die down, even as the Election Commission (EC) Wednesday set the ball rolling for the election of the next Vice-President.
Asking the government to “clarify the circumstances” surrounding Dhankhar’s resignation, CPM MP John Brittas claimed that “information from certain quarters suggests a senior minister sought his resignation on behalf of the government”.
“The contrast between the Prime Minister’s enthusiastic endorsement of Dhankhar ji as ‘Kisan Putra’ during his (vice-presidential) candidacy and the cryptic, delayed statement following his resignation heightens intrigue,” said Brittas. “If the government continues to evade questions, it would be fitting for Dhankhar ji to break his silence to uphold the dignity of the office,” he added.
The BAC allocated 16 hours for a discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha next week, starting on Tuesday. While the government was noncommittal on the Opposition’s demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should reply to the debate, sources said he may “choose the occasion to convey his government’s robust response to the terror attack and its stand on a host of issues”.