• Source:JND

Jagdeep Dhankar Resignation: On Monday evening, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar unexpectedly announced his resignation, citing health reasons. However, the immediate trigger appears to be the impeachment notice against Delhi High Court’s Justice Yashwant Varma that was raised in the Rajya Sabha.

As Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar accepted the proposal signed by 63 opposition MPs. The ruling party’s floor leaders were reportedly unaware of this development. Moreover, Dhankhar was keen that the impeachment motion begin in the Rajya Sabha itself, a move that benefited the opposition, as their proposal was the one accepted.

Jagdeep Dhankar Resignation: Was Justice Varma The Key Factor Behind His Resignation?

According to a report by Jagran.com, a series of events reportedly upset Dhankhar, leading to his decision to step down. By 6 PM, he had already informed the government of his decision, and by 9:25 PM, his resignation was made public. Speculation surrounding his resignation continued throughout Tuesday. However, it now seems almost certain that Justice Varma’s issue played a central role.

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The government had earlier announced plans to bring an impeachment motion against Justice Varma, who is facing corruption charges. The original plan was to have the motion passed in the Lok Sabha first and then move it to the Rajya Sabha.

The impeachment notice in the Lok Sabha carried signatures from Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Anurag Thakur, along with 145 MPs from both ruling and opposition parties. However, at around 3:30 PM, Dhankhar announced in the Rajya Sabha that he had received a notice signed by 63 MPs and that proceedings would commence.

What raised eyebrows was the fact that none of these 63 MPs belonged to the BJP or its allies. This oversight was likely due to a lapse by the BJP’s floor managers. Still, it was expected that Dhankhar’s office would coordinate with the ruling party, especially since the Leader of the House is from the BJP.

Dhankhar’s Outspoken Stance on Justice Varma

Jagdeep Dhankhar has been consistently outspoken on the Justice Varma issue and was pushing for the matter to be initiated in the Rajya Sabha. However, this approach involved a risk. That’s because more than 50 opposition MPs have also submitted an impeachment notice in the Rajya Sabha against Justice Shekhar Yadav. If Varma’s case had started there, it might have opened the door for that motion as well.

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Two BJP Ministers Skip BAC Meeting

The Jagran.com report stated that Dhankhar also communicated his displeasure to the ruling party after JP Nadda and Kiren Rijiju skipped the BAC meeting, which was scheduled to be chaired by him. After both ministers did not show up, Dhankar postponed the meeting to 1 pm on July 22 (Tuesday).

However, Leader of the House JP Nadda claimed that he informed Dhankar that both he and Kiren Rijiju would not be attending the Business Advisory Committee meeting and cited prior engagements as the reason.