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Jagdeep Dhankhar became Vice-President in August 2022 after his stint as the West Bengal governor, and is best remembered for his frequent run-ins with CM Mamata Banerjee
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts proceedings in the House during the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi on July 21. (Image: Sansad TV/PTI)
A day after Jagdeep Dhankhar called for bonhomie and mutual respect among political parties, he stepped down from the post of Vice-President citing health reasons.
Only four months ago in March, the 74-year-old Dhankhar had been admitted to the AIIMS Delhi after experiencing uneasiness and chest pain. In his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, he said he wants to “prioritise healthcare and abide by medical advice”.
Dhankhar assumed the esteemed office in August 2022 when he was the West Bengal governor, and is best remembered for his frequent run-ins with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Having always positioned himself as an upholder of constitutional norms, he had a similarly eventful tenure as chairman of the Rajya Sabha with several verbal clashes with the opposition, which had moved a motion to impeach him. The motion was the first in independent India to remove a sitting VP, but was later rejected by Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh.
Described as kisan putra by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was with him when he filed his nomination papers in 2022, he was the NDA’s candidate and beat opposition pick Margaret Alva to become the second leader from Rajasthan after Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to reach the high office.
He has often claimed to be a “reluctant politician” after he forayed into politics in 1989 on being elected to the Lok Sabha on Janata Dal’s ticket from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. He became a Union minister in 1990. From 1993 to 1998, he was a member of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha from Kishangarh constituency.
Dhankhar, like most Jat leaders from his time, was originally associated with Devi Lal and his political career began to surge when, as a young lawyer at that time, he was picked up by Lal as the opposition candidate in 1989 from Jhunjhunu parliamentary constituency — then a Congress citadel — and he won. He followed his mentor when he walked out of the VP Singh government and became a Union minister in 1990 in the minority government led by Chandrashekhar.
Later, he joined the Congress when PV Narasimha Rao became the prime minister and Devi Lal was losing clout. But with the rise of Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan politics, Dhankhar shifted to the BJP and is said to have become close to Vasundhara Raje soon after. However, it was during a gap in his political career that he shifted focus to his legal calling for over a decade.
He started his career as an advocate in 1979 at the Bar Council of Rajasthan. He became a senior advocate, designated by the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan in 1990. He was the senior-most designated senior advocate of the state till he became Bengal’s governor in 2019. He practised in the Supreme Court from 1990 and appeared in various high courts of India and has also served as the president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association.
Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu on May 18, 1951, Dhankhar completed his schooling at Sainik School, Chittorgarh; did his graduation in physics, and then pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan. He is married to Sudesh Dhankhar since 1979 and the couple has a daughter.
Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing impactful st…Read More
Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing impactful st… Read More
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