Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s sudden resignation has triggered quiet unease in political and institutional circles, with no formal explanation beyond a letter citing “health reasons.” The resignation was announced at 9:25 PM on 21 July via a post from the official Vice President’s handle on X (formerly Twitter) and was formally accepted by President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday, 22 July.
Reports, attributed to top government sources, have suggested that the resignation may have been triggered by a disagreement that unfolded during a meeting of the Rajya Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on Monday . The reported flashpoint was Dhankhar’s decision to acknowledge and list for discussion a resolution moved by the Opposition seeking the impeachment of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma on charges of corruption. According to these accounts, the move had not been cleared by the government and was not on the finalised agenda.
The response from the government was reportedly swift and sharp. Several ministers are said to have expressed strong disapproval, with one reportedly warning that Dhankhar’s conduct was inconsistent with his institutional responsibilities. The Vice President is believed to have pushed back during these exchanges, describing the government’s reaction as deeply disappointing and stating that he felt compelled to resign “as soon as possible.”
Later on Monday evening, Dhankhar is believed to have gone to Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted his resignation in person.
While this sequence may explain the immediate cause of his exit, questions remain over whether this act alone—acknowledging a resolution moved in by the opposition parties—was enough to warrant the resignation of the Vice President of India.
Dhankhar, until now, has been viewed as closely aligned with the government, and his tenure has not reflected any public divergence. In Fact he was repeatedly attacked by the Opposition parties for what they claimed was a ‘partisan’ role in the house and they had even moved a no confidence motion against him last year. He was even called the ‘most-biased’ VP the country has seen by the opposition parties.
Hence, for a simple procedural decision involving a motion on a High Court judge to result in the resignation of the Rajya Sabha Chairman appears, to many observers, disproportionate.
What makes the development more unusual is the absence of any damage control.
The Modi government is known for its disciplined messaging and tight management of institutional events. Having been in power in Delhi for over eleven years, it also possesses, as any professional political party is expected to, a well-developed understanding of media management.
Yet more than a day after the resignation, there has been no coordinated clarification from the ruling party, and no public appearance or farewell by the Vice President.
If the resignation was prompted merely by procedural disagreement, it is difficult to understand why a government that values stability would allow such a situation to spiral into an avoidable controversy.
A third possibility, being quietly discussed in relevant circles, is whether Dhankhar was asked to resign to make way for a new appointment. The Vice President’s post, while largely ceremonial, carries political and parliamentary weight and is sought by allies as it controls the Rajya Sabha, plays a role in legislative strategy, and is second in the constitutional order.
With the elections scheduled for Bihar and West Bengal, the appointment of a new national president of BJP delayed for more than a year and the much awaited cabinet expansion , the government may have decided that it wanted someone else in the role—whether for strategic, symbolic, or electoral balancing reasons. In that case, the “health” explanation may simply have served as a face-saving narrative for all sides.
Not many are aware that Dhankhar’s own journey to the Vice Presidency had deep political roots and RSS backing. According to background information gathered from senior sources in Rajasthan, Dhankhar’s long-standing association with key RSS leaders played a crucial role in his nomination in 2022. RSS figures Indresh Kumar and Kamlesh Singh are known to have strongly lobbied within the Sangh for his elevation. In the first week of July 2022, when the RSS’s annual Akhil Bharatiya Prantiya Pracharak Sameelan was being planned, senior functionaries Indresh Kumar and Kamlesh Singh ensured that it was held in Jhunjhunu, Dhankhar’s home district in Rajasthan.
During the three-day conclave in Jhunjhunu, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and over 20 senior RSS leaders stayed at Dhankhar’s farmhouse in Kithana, although Dhankhar himself was not present. His wife, Dr Sudesh Dhankhar, hosted the RSS guests throughout the event.
Sources familiar with the meeting say that the RSS consensus around Dhankhar’s Vice Presidential nomination began forming at that conclave. His long-standing proximity to Indresh Kumar, for whom Dhankhar had once served as legal counsel during the 2010 Ajmer blast case, further strengthened his acceptability within the Sangh. It is widely believed that the Jhunjhunu conclave marked the moment when the decision to back Dhankhar for a constitutional role was quietly sealed.
Attempts to reach Dhankar did not elicit any response.
Against that backdrop, his sudden exit—without farewell, without clarity, and without public alignment from the establishment—has left a vacuum difficult to ignore. Whether the resignation marks a rupture, a reshuffle, or simply a misstep may become clearer in the days ahead. But for now, a Vice President once seen as firmly on the same page as the government has departed under circumstances that continue to raise more questions than they answer.
