Gavel to Gravel: V-P Dhankhar's Cookie-Crumble

LAWYER, politician, governor, and vice president, Jagdeep Dhankhar's political journey has been unconventional, to say the least, tempered in phases by his legal acumen, unpredictable fidelity, and erratic swings between his sense of correctness and pugnacious confrontation.

- JAYANTH JACOB

That sums up the manner of his resignation, quietly, long after sunset, which he made public through a social media note. It arose after the impression gained ground that Dhankhar had thwarted the ruling dispensation's strategy to initiate the impeachment of Justice Yashwant Varma. The treasury side was not yet ready with its motion when, as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar reportedly received the Opposition's notice. The government was not amused.

In many ways, Dhankhar's story reads like a political parable—from the dusty village lanes of Kithana in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district to the ceremonial grandeur of the Vice President's Enclave in Lutyens' Delhi. Ambition, some legal finesse, and an appetite for the limelight forged his ascent. Yet the very elements that lifted him—law, pugnacity, and showmanship—ultimately contributed to his eclipse.