‘Should not try to stretch too much’: Amit Shah on Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation as VP

“Dhankhar ji was sitting on a constitutional post and during his tenure, he did good work according to the constitution. He has resigned due to his personal health problem. One should not try to stretch it too much and find something,” Shah said.

In a surprise move, Dhankhar announced that he was stepping down from his post, two years to go for the end of his five-year tenure, citing health concerns.

“Dhankhar ji’s resignation letter itself made it clear that he resigned due to his health issues. He has expressed gratitude to ministers and the Prime Minister for having a good tenure,” he added.

On being asked about Dhankhar’s whereabouts and the speculation around his resignation, Shah said: “It seems like the explanation on what’s true or not is based on what the Opposition says”. While Opposition leaders speculated about the reasons for his resignation, coming on the first day of the Monsoon Session, there was no immediate reaction from the government.

The Vice President had an “unscheduled” meeting with President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan hours before his resignation. There was no official statement from either the President’s or the Vice President’s office regarding the content of their discussion, sources had told The Indian Express.

The election to the post of Vice President is set to be conducted on September 9. The nomination period, that began on August 7, ended Thursday (August 21).