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Delhi Confidential: Where’s Dhankhar?

As Opposition MPs seek clarity on the whereabouts of former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar after his sudden resignation, it is learnt that he is where he has been all along — the Vice President’s Enclave.

iGOT Karmayogi Platform, Cloudburst Concern, Jagdeep Dhankhar, Jitendra Singh, Indian express news, current affairs

Dhankhar, outspoken on many matters including those pertaining to the judiciary, has not made any public appearance or statement since resigning on July 21.

As Opposition MPs seek clarity on the whereabouts of former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar after his sudden resignation, it is learnt that he is where he has been all along — the Vice President’s Enclave. Dhankhar, outspoken on many matters including those pertaining to the judiciary, has not made any public appearance or statement since resigning on July 21. Dhankhar resigned citing “health reasons” on a day he presided over Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha secretariat on August 6 appointed Kaustubh Sudhakar Bhalekar, who had been Dhankhar’s senior PS, as the private secretary to the former VP.

Cloudburst Concern

At an event Thursday, Union Science Minister Jitendra Singh could be seen engrossed on his phone on the podium. Even when he was called upon to speak, he could be seen typing on his phone, behaviour atypical of him. After the hall waited in silence for a couple of minutes, Singh looked up and spoke — he had received news of the cloudburst in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kishtwar and was checking its impact. Singh hails from Jammu and is the MP from Udhampur constituency.

Reshuffle Plans

Plans for a significant gubernatorial reshuffle, learnt to have been delayed due to reasons ranging from the Monsoon Session to the upcoming Vice Presidential election, are slowly grinding back into gear. A series of Governors and Lieutenant Governors have met the BJP top brass in recent times. Delhi LG V K Saxena, who called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, is the latest instance. On Tuesday, former BJP MP and incumbent Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, who had called on PM Modi in the capital on July 29, visited Home Minister Amit Shah. Insiders said “around a dozen” such meetings, including those involving Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and J&K LG Manoj Sinha, had taken place between July and early August.

Lunch Motivation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly told officials to acquire new skills through the government’s iGOT Karmayogi Platform. To motivate their teams, the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, hosted a special lunch for staff members who registered for these courses. The event at the Constitution Club was attended by Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan ‘Lalan’ Singh, his deputies Prof S P Singh Baghel and George Kurien, as well as senior officials. The dishes on offer included litti chokha.