Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on July 21, citing health reasons.
At 9:25 p.m. on the 21st, the official X handle of the Vice President shared a resignation letter addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.
“To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately, in accordance with Article 67(a) of the Constitution. I extend my deepest gratitude to Your Excellency, the Honourable President of India for her unwavering support and the soothing, wonderful working relationship we maintained during my tenure,” Mr Dhankhar wrote in the letter.
“I express my deep gratitude to the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the esteemed Council of Ministers. Prime Minister’s cooperation and support have been invaluable, and I have learned much during my time in office. The warmth, trust, and affection I have received from all the Hon’ble Members of Parliament would ever be cherished at and embedded in my memory. I am deeply thankful for the invaluable experiences and insights I have gained as Vice President in our great democracy,” he wrote.
Senior Congress leaders described the development as “inexplicable” and a “riddle wrapped in mystery rolled in an enigma”. The Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Dhankhar’s resignation as “forced”, there were “far deeper reasons” behind the move, while the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, asked the Centre to clarify if it had prior knowledge of the resignation.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said Dhankhar’s resignation is an example of the “threat looming over the country’s Constitution.”
“The hasty resignation of a person holding a big constitutional post like the vice president is a big blow to the dignity of this post. Dhankhar’s move is an example of the threat looming over the Constitution,” he said.