It's 'business-as-usual' for parties, Dhankhar now marooned in a political no man's land

NEW DELHI: Just three days after Jagdeep Dhankhar created a flutter by quitting as vice president on health grounds, political circles appear to have settled into its "business-as-usual" rhythm.

As govt and opposition trade volleys over a whole range of issues, with the usual routine of "disruptions" in Parliament proceedings thrown in, few seem to be lamenting the absence of the loquacious former Rajya Sabha chairman.The anger in the governing quarters with him for accepting opposition-sponsored motions for removal of Justice Yashwant Varma has given way to preoccupation with who gets to succeed him as VP.

Opposition, even as it leverages the dramatic episode to seek to embarrass the government, is not mourning his abrupt exit, leaving the former VP marooned in a political no man's land.At an informal meeting of INDIA bloc parties, Rahul Gandhi and other participants are known to have argued with Dhankhar, who allegedly "tormented" them during his three year-tenure by his "partisanship".As they agitate over revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, the former VP hardly seems to be a hot priority for Parliament's monsoon session, relegating the resignation saga to the bottom of their list of priorities with a handful of opposition members being sympathetic to him.

NDA parties have maintained, barring PM Narendra Modi's curt post on X, a "radio silence" over Dhankhar's impending departure from the Vice President's Enclave.

They did not even share PM Modi's " Dhankhar ji has got many opportunities to serve the country in various capacities, including as vice president of India. Wishing him good health", X post.While govt officials are exploring a Type-VIII bungalow to shift Dhankhar, the developments preceding his resignation suggest that he was left with no choice but to quit as BJP and its allies were preparing to bring a no-confidence motion against him a day after he accepted the notice against Justice Varma signed by 63 opposition MPs.Sources said that the way Dhankhar accepted opposition's notice against Justice Varma even after govt had decided to bring the motion in LS with the signature of members from all parties, top members of the governing alliance were perturbed and angry and responded to the "betrayal" by rushing to collect signatures of MPs in the Parliament office of defence minister Rajnath Singh to bring a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar in Rajya Sabha the next day.A no confidence motion against the VP can be passed with a simple majority and NDA has more than the required numbers.Sources suggested a message was conveyed to Dhankhar by an RS secretariat functionary Monday that "either quit immediately, else face no confidence motion next day." Instead of confronting, Dhankhar reached the Rashtrapati Bhawan, handed over his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu and made it public through a post on X.After accepting opposition MPs' signed letter against Justice Varma and passing a ruling from the chair, Dhankhar had become "inaccessible" to the senior government functionaries who tried to reach him, leading them to to skip the evening BAC meeting.Sources said the notice of LS MPs seeking removal of Justice Varma was given to speaker Om Birla by a delegation of MPs led by senior BJP functionary Ravi Shankar Prasad, who scrambled after getting to know that Dhankhar had opened channels with the opposition MPs seeking a notice in the case from them.