Dhankhar resigned on the very first day of the Monsoon session of Parliament. His resignation was immediately accepted by President Droupadi Murmu.
When she was asked about the resignation of Dhankhar, who was earlier Governor of West Bengal, Mamata said, “Political parties cannot decide why Mr Dhankhar resigned. I don’t want to comment on this. I don’t know what is happening behind (the scene). Let’s see. He (Dhankhar) is a healthy man. His health is absolutely fine.”
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The TMC government had a tumultuous relationship with Dhankhar, when he was the Governor of West Bengal. Dhankhar had often been at the centre of confrontations with the TMC government before being elevated as the Vice-President in 2022.
“Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation. Is health the only reason? If so, get well soon. Otherwise, curiosity remains.” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh posted on X.
A bitter critic of Dhankhar during his tenure as Bengal Governor, Ghosh said, “We do not wish to comment on this, as our top leadership is observing the situation. He has cited health reasons, so we wish him good health.”
TMC MP and senior leader Sushmita Dev said he was quite “surprised” by Dhankhar’s sudden decision. “I did see some news that he was not keeping well. But one did not imagine that it was serious enough for him to step down. I thought he would go on leave, recover and come back, so I was quite surprised by his decision,” she told a news channel.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More