NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar announced on Monday night that he has resigned his post citing “medical advice” and said he would “prioritise” his health.
In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, he said his resignation will be effective immediately.
He had chaired the Monsoon Session’s first day as both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha assembled for their month-long sittings.
“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,” his letter read.
In the letter, he thanked the President “for her unwavering support and the soothing, wonderful working relationship we maintained during my tenure”.
“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 letter read.
“To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as Vice President of India, effective immediately, in accordance with Article 67(a) of the Constituton,” Dhankhar said in his letter to the President. He recently underwent angioplasty at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.
Dhankhar, 74, assumed office in August 2022. The Vice President serves as the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha and is responsible for maintaining order and procedure in the House. However, the Vice President is not a member of any House or any state legislature.
In his eventful tenure as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar has had several run-ins with the Opposition, which had also moved a motion to impeach him. The motion to remove him, the first time ever in independent India to remove a sitting Vice President, was later rejected by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
Dhankhar is the second Vice President to resign while in office, after V V Giri resigned from his post on July 20, 1969 to contest the presidential elections as an independent candidate. His abrupt resignation follows a day of surprising development in the Rajya Sabha for the government, as an Opposition-sponsored notice for a motion to remove Justice Yashwant Varma was submitted to him and he mentioned it in the House. The development came as a jolt to the ruling BJP-led NDA alliance, which had sponsored a similar notice in the Lok Sabha and taken the Opposition on board.
He was the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s candidate in the election for vice president in 2022.
The sudden vacancy caused by Dhankar’s resignation will have to be filled up by the Election Commission by initiating the process for the election to the post of vice president as soon as possible. It would also prompt consultations among the political parties. The Election Commission is likely to issue the notification and the timeline for the election soon.
The Constitution does not provide a mechanism of succession to the office of vice president in the event of an extraordinary vacancy, apart from re-election. However, the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha can perform the vice president’s duties as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha in such an event.