Dhankhar’s day out: First to dentist, then to farmhouse owned by Abhay Chautala
The choice of the farmhouse by Dhankhar, whose sudden resignation on July 21 on the first day of the Monsoon Session remains as much a matter of speculation as what he has been doing since, is not a surprise.
Former Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar chairing a session of the Upper House of Parliament. (ANI/File) 
OVER A month after he stepped down as Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankhar ventured out of his official residence to visit the dentist. Hours later, he moved into a farmhouse owned by Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Abhay Chautala in Delhi’s Chattarpur Enclave, a stop-gap arrangement till he gets an alternative official accommodation.
The choice of the farmhouse by Dhankhar, whose sudden resignation on July 21 on the first day of the Monsoon Session remains as much a matter of speculation as what he has been doing since, is not a surprise. The ties between Dhankhar and the Chautalas go back nearly 40 years, to 1989, when Abhay’s grandfather Devi Lal – Haryana’s foremost Jat leader and then Chief Minister – identified the young lawyer from Rajasthan as a potential “leader”. In turn, Dhankhar, also a Jat, always referred to Devi Lal as his “mentor”.
On Monday morning, Dhankhar, 74, who cited health reasons for his resignation as V-P, went to the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital for his dentist appointment. Indicating it was the first time he had stepped out of the V-P’s enclave since his resignation, a source said: “For the past month, he has been (at the residence), meeting relatives and old friends. Today he came out to visit a doctor.”
Dhankhar’s wife Sudesh, however, has been to Kithana, a village in his native district of Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, and to Jaipur during this period.
About shifting out of the official V-P residence, the source said Dhankhar had conveyed to security agencies his decision to move to “a private accommodation in Gadaipur DLF farms, Chattarpur Enclave”. “Many of the belongings have already been shifted, while several household items have been moved to a flat inside the V-P’s official residence,” the source said.
Confirming that Dhankhar was moving into his farmhouse, Abhay told The Indian Express: “When I learnt Dhankhar ji was looking for a house to stay in and his own accommodation was not ready, I called him and asked him to stay at our place. It is a family gesture towards a person we see as our elder. I told him that he does not need to look for any alternative accommodation, and that it is his own house and he should come here. He graciously accepted.”
A source said that Dhankhar would be provided Z-plus security cover as a former V-P. “After conducting security assessment, the Delhi Police has decided to continue with the security cover, with Inspector-rank PSOs,” the source said, adding that the South Delhi District Police had been asked to also alert their local beat staff.
Dhankhar’s association with the Chautalas began when he caught Devi Lal’s eye for organising reportedly 500 vehicles from Rajasthan for a rally held on September 25, 1989, to mark Devi Lal’s birthday, at Boat Club near India Gate. Devi Lal was at the time one of the leading figures of the Opposition coalition that had come together to challenge the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government at the Centre, and the success of the Boat Club rally was a big step in that direction.
In the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition coalition fought as the Janata Dal. Devi Lal offered Dhankhar the Janata Dal ticket from the Jhunjhunu Lok Sabha seat, and actively campaigned for him. Not only did it strengthen their bond but when Devi Lal became the Deputy Prime Minister in the Janata Dal government that came to power, Dhankhar was made Union Minister of State (Parliamentary Affairs).
Soon though, ties between Devi Lal and Prime Minister V P Singh soured. In 1990, when Singh dismissed Devi Lal, Dhankhar was the only minister who resigned from the Union Cabinet in support of the Jat leader. After V P Singh was replaced by Chandra Shekhar as PM, and as the Janata Dal coalition unravelled, Devi Lal came back as Deputy PM and Dhankhar as MoS, Parliamentary Affairs.
But this government too proved short-lived, and Dhankhar quit the Janata Dal not long after, as Devi Lal formed the INLD. In the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Ajmer on the Congress ticket, but lost. Dhankhar then shifted to Rajasthan politics, becoming a Congress MLA from Kishangarh in the 1993 Assembly elections.
Last week, Dhankhar re-applied to the Rajasthan Assembly Secretariat for pension as a former legislator from 1993 to 1998. He had received the pension until 2019, when he was appointed the Governor of West Bengal. He was elected Vice-President in 2022.
On December 21, 2024, when INLD’s then chief and Devi Lal’s son Om Prakash Chautala (Abhay and Ajay’s father) passed away, Dhankar was among the first to reach for the State funeral. Dhankhar said at the time: “Five days ago, I spoke to Chautala Sahib (Om Prakash Chautala) and he was enquiring about my health. He was more concerned about me… Farmers’ progress and development of villages were Chautala’s priority.”
In March this year, addressing an event, Dhankhar credited Devi Lal with persuading him to drop the “p” from “pleader”, and become a “leader”, thus inspiring him to enter politics.
After Dhankhar suddenly resigned as V-P on July 21, Abhay called it a “conspiracy”, and claimed Dhankhar had been “made to resign” by PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In a post on X, Abhay attacked the Modi government for failing to fulfill its assurances to farmers, and said: “The BJP cannot accept an individual who speaks of farmers and their welfare. Dhankhar ji, who learned politics from Chaudhary Devi Lal, only speaks of the welfare of farmers. He has not resigned voluntarily but has been made to resign by the Modi-Shah leadership.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Abhay said: “We have been visiting Dhankhar ji since our childhood days. He has been part of our family in sorrow and in happiness. I regularly meet him, and this continued even after he became the V-P.”
Devi Lal’s son Ranjit Singh, a former MLA and ex-minister, who is also estranged from the Abhay side of the family, said Dhankhar was like “a family member”.
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