Vice President Dhankar’s resignation caught staff off guard; MPs question abrupt move
Before his surprise resignation, Dhankhar held three meetings, with no indication of his exit, according to two MPs who attended.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s decision to step down took his own staff by surprise. On Monday, they sent out press statements about his plans over the next few days –– from business advisory committee meetings with floor leaders of various parties to a meeting with real estate developers in Rajasthan on Wednesday.
Ahead of the surprise announcement late in the evening, Dhankhar chaired three meetings, according to people aware of details –– the floor leaders meeting at the beginning of the session and two rounds of meetings with the business advisory committee between noon and 1pm, to decide bills to be taken up for the session. There was nothing to suggest that he was on his way out, said two MPs who were part of the meetings.
He also chaired the Rajya Sabha, where again, he was his usual 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.”
Shortly after that, at about 4.07pm, Dhankhar spoke about the signatures that he had received for the impeachment of justice Yashwant Varma, the former Delhi high court judge at the centre 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 till the time this paper went to bed, there was no response from the government either, although people familiar with the matter said Dhankhar was unlikely to have sent his resignation without discussing it with senior functionaries.
With the debate over Operation Sindoor and the impeachment of justice Varma, the monsoon session of Parliament promised to make news. But no one expected that the chair of the Rajya Sabha would provide the biggest headline on the first day of the session.
