PM's post on Dhankhar's resignation revealed its political nature, claims Gogoi

Guwahati: Deputy Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's social media post on Jagdeep Dhankhar's exit as Vice President showed "the political nature of the resignation". Dhankhar resigned from his post on Monday evening, citing medical reasons. He sent his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and said he was stepping down with immediate effect.

Notably, Gogoi did not mention Dhankhar's name in his post on X. "The dignity of a Constitutional post should be maintained both in it's (sic) role of a Presiding Officer and in it's (sic) resignation. PM Modi's tweet has revealed the political nature of the resignation," Gogoi wrote on the social media site. Modi wished Dhankhar good health and said he got many opportunities to serve the country in various capacities. "Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India. Wishing him good health," the PM had said on X. Dhankhar's decision to resign as Vice President has triggered a firestorm of speculation on whether there was more to it than "to prioritise health care", as his sudden move had capped a day of events in Rajya Sabha on his watch which took the government by surprise and put it in a damage-control mode.

On its part, the Congress claimed the reasons behind his resignation are "far deeper" than the health issues cited by him. The usual effusive praise that is showered on an occupant of a high office on his departure was missing from the ruling alliance's side, an indication that the government was probably happy to see him go. However, it was the opposition, which had signed a notice to impeach Dhankhar last year for his alleged biases, that had nice words for him.