Unmourned Death of Political Journalism

The Dhankhar earthquake shows why the institution of political journalism stands diminished

- Harish Khare

AT 9.30 PM on July 21, 2025, a seismic event took place that left the nation's political crowd pretty mystified. The Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, had driven to Rashtrapati Bhavan, carrying in his pocket his letter of resignation, citing reasons of health for stepping down with two years still left in his term.

The Dhankhar earthquake not only exposed the precarious sanctity of a high constitutional office, it also shook many assumptions about the seductive notion that all was honky-dory in the Narendra Modi command and control tent.

As it happened, Vice President Dhankhar can claim the dubious honour of being the first man to be fired from the second-highest constitutional office in the land.

A bad day for the republic.

A very bad day for political journalism in India.

Till 9.28 PM, when Dhankhar himself put out his letter of resignation on Twitter, not a single reporter in the national capital (or outside) had any inkling that relations between the Vice President and the Prime Minister had deteriorated to such an extent that the extreme most precipitous measure had to be resorted to.

And, this in a town where reporters, anchors, bloggers and podcasters pretend to be privy to the inside track on what is cooking atop Raisina Hill; there was stunned silence in newsrooms and studios. Of course, with the alacrity of a professional pickpocket the political reporters were soon churning out reasons for why Dhankhar had to be given the boot.