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Jagdeep Dhankhar: Grassroots politician who led reforms in a stormy Rajya Sabha
Jagdeep Dhankhar, born in a farming family, rose through the ranks to become a lawmaker in the Rajasthan assembly, then a Lok Sabha MP
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, an ardent champion of the supremacy of Parliament, tendered his resignation on Monday after presiding over a deeply divided Rajya Sabha for nearly three years.
Several reforms were initiated since he came to the Upper House. In the Table Office, which handles notices of MPs and other business, women occupied nearly 50% positions, as Dhankhar tried to promote female officers in sync with the government’s approach for women welfare.
“At one point of time, a major section of presiding officers (MPs who sit in the Chair and conduct proceedings) were women. During the debate on the women reservation bill, a record number of 17 presiding officers conducted the proceedings,” said an official.
As the VP, Dhankhar had often spoken about Parliament’s supremacy and on several occasions expressed anguish over the disruptions over the Opposition’s demand to discuss issues in the House. Once Dhankhar said Rule 267, which allows for adjournments, is being “weaponised as a mechanism of disruption.”
“The loss of time and opportunity by not having the Question Hour has given an enormous setback to the people at large. I call upon you for deep reflection. I express my deep anguish. My absolute pain is that we are creating a bad precedent and we are dishonouring the people of this country. Our actions are not people-centric. We are getting into irrelevance,” Dhankhar said last year.
But the Opposition too accused him of bias and questioned his decisions frequently. A large number of Opposition MPs were suspended during his term and on one such occasion, suspended MPs spent a night near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the old Parliament premises to protest.
In the secretariat, Dhankhar quietly reshuffled officials who occupied the same position over many decades and ushered in a number of reforms to ensure that the content of the Rajya Sabha TV improved.
In the House, however, he enjoyed mixed success. He came under heavy criticism from the Opposition, including an impeachment notice last year, a first in the history against a VP.
It was later rejected on technical grounds. In an unprecedented attack against the VP, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described him as a “cheerleader”—a term that Dhankhar often referred to, to underline how the Opposition has attacked him.
Born in a farmer family, Dhankhar rose through the ranks to become a lawmaker in the Rajasthan assembly, then a Lok Sabha MP, before he became the governor of West Bengal and finally, occupied the second highest constitutional post of the country.
Officials close to Dhankhar maintained that he remained deeply rooted to the ground. “Until a few months ago, he would start meeting people from 7am at his residence. “From the top official to a contract worker in the VP residence, he met everyone.”
In August, 2022, Dhankhar was elected as the VP. He beat his opponent, the Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, by 346 votes. In the winter session of 2022, he debuted as the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
Weeks after he took charge, Dhankhar launched an unusual attack on former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Criticising Gandhi’s remarks against judiciary, Dhankhar had said, “The statement imparted by the Hon’ble chairperson of the UPA is far distanced from my reflections. Delegitimising the judiciary is beyond my contemplation. It is a pillar of democracy. I would urge and expect leaders across the political spectrum to bear in mind not to subject high constitutional offices to partisan stances.”
