New Delhi, July 22: President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of Vice President of India on Tuesday.

The letter has been forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and soon an official notification will be issued.

This was announced during the Rajya Sabha proceedings, when BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari, who was in the Chair, said that Dhankhar’s resignation as the Vice President has been accepted.

Tiwari also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has “conveyed resignation of Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar under Article 67A of the Constitution with immediate effect”.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended good wishes to Dhankhar. The PM wrote on X, “Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India. Wishing him good health.”

The PM’s post came at a time when the opposition has been raising questions about Dhankhar’s sudden resignation.

Dhankhar, who served as the 14th Vice President of India since August 2022, stepped down on July 21 — the very first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament — citing health concerns.

On July 16, 2022, the BJP announced Dhankhar as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for Vice President. In the Vice Presidential election held on August 6, 2022, Dhankhar defeated opposition candidate Margaret Alva with 528 out of 710 valid votes, securing 74.37 per cent — the highest margin of victory since 1992.

As Vice President, Dhankhar also served as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, where he presided over several key legislative sessions. Known for his strict adherence to parliamentary rules and no-nonsense approach, he was both respected and contested in equal measure across party lines.

Jagdeep Dhankhar, a seasoned politician and constitutional expert, was seen by many as a firm yet fair presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha.

He had been hospitalised multiple times over the past year for health concerns, most recently in Nainital. The exact nature of his illness has not been disclosed.

In his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Dhankhar cited health concerns. He invoked Article 67(a) of the Indian Constitution, which provides for the resignation of the Vice President.

Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation has triggered the constitutional process to elect a new Vice President of India, say experts. Since the Vice President also serves as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the post cannot remain vacant for long, according to the experts.

New Delhi, July 22: The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday, twice during the first half, after Opposition MPs disrupted proceeding demanding discussion on Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Soon after the House met for the day and after the listing of papers, Opposition members were on their feet raising slogans in support of their demands including a discussion of Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides on the Bihar SIR issue.

Several Opposition members including those from the Congress had given adjournment notices for suspending the day’s business and holding an immediate discussion on the SIR issue.

CPI member P Sandosh Kumar had given a notice to discuss the “unexpected and unprecedented” resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The morning proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon within minutes of the start of the day’s proceedings, after Deputy Chairman Harivansh rejected the 12 adjournment notices on several issues by Opposition members under Rule 267.

As the House met again at 12 noon for the Question Hour, the Opposition protest continued with several of them raising slogans.

Ghanshyam Tiwari, who was chairing the proceedings, informed the House regarding a notification (dated July 22, 2025) by the Ministry of Home Affairs conveying resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with immediate effect.

After that, he called the members to raise the listed questions.

However, opposition members continued to protest, forcing the Chair to adjourn the House till 2 pm.

One of the members had demanded discussion on resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of Vice President of India.

Ten opposition members were seeking immediate discussion on concerns arising out of the Election Commission’s decision to carry out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

As the Chair did not accept their adjournment notices, Opposition parties, including the Congress started protesting. The Deputy Chairman adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.

Harivansh was chairing the proceedings of the morning session, a day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from his post citing medical reasons.

Vice President of India is ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Usually, Dhankhar used to chair the proceedings at the beginning of the day.

New Delhi, Jul 22: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on July 24 plea of the Maharashtra government against the Bombay High Court verdict acquitting all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case.

A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria listed the matter for Thursday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Maharashtra government, mentioned for urgent listing saying that there is an element of urgency.

The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all the 12 accused, saying the prosecution utterly failed to prove the case and it was “hard to believe the accused committed the crime”.

More than 180 persons were killed in the seven train blasts.

New Delhi, July 22: The Congress on Tuesday claimed the reasons behind Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation as vice president are “far deeper” than health issues cited by him, and that his resignation speaks highly of him but poorly of those who got him elected to the post.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also raised questions over the absence of Union ministers J P Nadda and Kiren Rijiju from the second Business Advisory Committee on Monday, saying “something very serious” happened between 1 pm and 4.30 pm on Monday to account for their deliberate absence from the second BAC.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said Dhankhar’s resignation was quite unexpected.

“While presiding over Rajya Sabha yesterday he was his good jolly self!! Did the way he proactively handled the 2 impeachment motions (Justice Yadav & Verma) yesterday the last straw!!” he said on X.

Ramesh pointed out that Dhankhar chaired the BAC of the Rajya Sabha at 12.30 pm on Monday.

“It was attended by most members, including Leader of the House J P Nadda and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju. After some discussion, the BAC decided to meet again at 4:30 PM,” he said in a post on X.

At 4.30 pm, the BAC reassembled under the chairmanship of Dhankhar, the Congress leader said.

“It waited for Shri Nadda and Shri Rijiju to arrive. They never came. Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar was not personally informed that the two senior Ministers were not attending. Rightly he took umbrage and rescheduled the BAC for today at 1 PM,” Ramesh claimed.

So “something very serious” happened yesterday between 1 pm and 4.30 pm to account for the deliberate absence of Nadda and Rijiju from the second BAC yesterday, he said in a post on Tuesday.

“Now in a truly unprecedented move, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has resigned. He has given health reasons for doing so. Those should be respected. But it is also a fact that there are far deeper reasons for his resignation,” Ramesh claimed.

While always lauding the post-2014 India, he spoke fearlessly for the welfare of farmers, forcefully against what he called ‘ahankar (arrogance)’ in public life, and strongly on judicial accountability and restraint, Ramesh said.

“To the extent possible under the current G2 ruling regime, he tried to accommodate the Opposition. He was a stickler for norms, proprieties, and protocol, which he believed were being consistently disregarded in both his capacities,” he said.

“Jagdeep Dhankar’s resignation speaks highly of him. It also speaks poorly of those who had got him elected as Vice President in the first instance,” he said.

The opposition on Monday raised questions over Dhankhar’s sudden resignation as the vice president, with the Congress saying that clearly, there is “far more to his totally unexpected resignation than meets the eye”.

The Congress has also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convince Dhankhar to change his mind.

In a sudden move, Dhankhar resigned from his post on Monday evening, citing medical reasons. He sent his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and said he is stepping down with immediate effect.

“The sudden resignation of the Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is as shocking as it is inexplicable. I was with him alongside a number of other MPs till around 5 PM today and had spoken to him over the phone at 7:30 PM,” Ramesh said in a post on X on Monday night.

“No doubt Mr Dhankhar has to give topmost priority to his health. But clearly there is far more to his totally unexpected resignation than meets the eye,” he had said. This is not the time for speculation though, Ramesh added.

Dhankhar took both the government and the opposition to task in equal measure, he said.

“He had fixed a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee tomorrow at 1 PM. He was also to make some major announcements related to the judiciary tomorrow,” Ramesh had said.

“We wish him the best of health but also request him to reconsider his decision. We also expect the Prime Minister to get Mr Dhankhar to change his mind. This will be in the nation’s interest,” the Congress leader had said.

The farming community, in particular, will be greatly relieved if Dhankhar changed his mind, he added.

Dhankhar, 74, assumed office in August 2022 and his tenure was till 2027.

He was also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha and his resignation came on the first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament.

Dhankhar recently underwent angioplasty at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

In his eventful tenure as Rajya Sabha chairman, Dhankhar had several run-ins with the opposition, which had also moved a motion to impeach him.

The motion, the first ever in independent India to remove a vice president, was later rejected by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.