It has been over a month since he suddenly quit, and Jagdeep Dhankhar has assiduously kept away from anything “Vice Presidential”. He hardly ever steps inside the office complex attached to his allotted residence, a 15-acre enclave where he has been living since April 2024, or used the Vice-Presidential carcade since his resignation on July 21.
This complete absence from the public eye, with calls and text messages drawing no response either, has triggered much speculation over Dhankhar’s whereabouts.
Introducing Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy, the Opposition’s V-P nominee, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said recently: “There is a big story about why he (Dhankhar) resigned… And then there’s a story about why he is in hiding… Suddenly, the person who used to burst forth in the Rajya Sabha has gone… completely silent.”
Asked about Dhankhar in an interview to ANI on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: “Dhankhar ji was sitting in a Constitutional post and, during his tenure, he did good work according to the Constitution. He has resigned due to personal health problems. One should not try to stretch it too much and find something.”
While Dhankhar has not stepped out of his high-security residence, his wife Sudesh Dhankhar is believed to have made at least three road trips to Rajasthan over the past month, including two to Jaipur, where the Dhankhars are constructing two commercial buildings on an ancestral farm land owned by her for the past two decades.
On these trips, Sudesh has used a newly acquired family car, refraining from official vehicles that had been assigned to Dhankhar as V-P.
Buildings under construction in Jaipur owned by Dhankhar’s wife Sudesh and daughter Kamna. (Express Photo: Hamza Khan)
Members of their staff told The Indian Express that the couple are only waiting for a new bungalow to be allotted to Dhankhar to move out – and had started packing their belongings the day after he resigned, on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
“Once the government allots a suitable bungalow, other benefits such as an official car, escort car, security guards etc, which a former V-P is entitled to, will be at his disposal,” an official said.
Sources said that Sudesh last paid a private visit to Jaipur about 7-10 days ago, when a havan was held at an under-construction building on land owned by the Dhankhars and located on New Sanganer Road, barely 15 minutes from Jaipur airport. Earlier a structure with a board identifying it as ‘Kamna Farmhouse’, named after the Dhankhars’ daughter, stood on the land.
Next to the under-construction building is an eight-storey structure, on which work began almost two years ago, as per labourers present at the site. Sitting next to a makeshift office in the building, a man who identifies himself as in-charge of the site says: “We have given the building on rent. We will have offices here. The second building too will be given to one firm.”
The Jaipur Development Authority’s approval letter for construction of a commercial complex in the building which is nearing completion was issued to Sudesh and Kamna on April 10, 2023. The plot area for this building is 3,668 sq m. The plan for the second building was cleared by the Jaipur Development Authority on February 9, 2024, and its total plot area is 3,693 sq m. This building too is owned by Sudesh and Kamna as per the Authority’s documents.
Both the buildings will have two basements, a ground floor and an additional eight floors as per the plan.
In the shops and commercial establishments nearby, there is much buzz about the buildings, especially their owners. A worker at an automobile repair and wash shop says Sudesh visits the construction site regularly.
Jhaman Singh, who sells tea from a cart opposite the building, says: “Earlier, a huge cavalcade would come for these VIP visits. However, the number of vehicles has declined since Dhankhar’s resignation.”
As per members of Dhankhar’s now much truncated staff, in the quieter environs of his Delhi enclave, the former V-P has slipped into a relaxed routine – far removed from his earlier packed itinerary and speaking programmes, where his statements frequently made news.
Most of Dhankhar’s mornings are taken up by yoga, with his teacher coming in for sessions. On many evenings, the 74-year-old can be seen enjoying table-tennis at the mini sports complex attached to the Vice-President’s enclave. Almost every day, the couple’s daughter Kamna Vajpayee visits them from Gurgaon, where she lives.
Besides this, says an aide, Dhankhar, a lawyer by training, is catching up on his love for political and legal thrillers. At the top of his list are said to be The Lincoln Lawyer (about a lawyer who works out of the back of his car), and House of Cards (about ruthless ambition for power).