In first speech after resigning as VP, Jagdeep Dhankhar references his long absence from public spotlight

Dhankhar said Vaidya’s book dismantles “long propagated myths portraying RSS as ultra-right and anti-minority”. “They go to the extent of linking it (RSS) even to the assassination of Gandhi. The untenability of all this is now fully exposed,” he said.

Dhankhar then mentioned “irrational protests” against the CAA, and added: “But then, friends, we are living in tough times. No one knows more than I do. We are in tough times. But then, one has to hold one’s own.”

VIDEO | Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has maintained a low profile since stepping down exactly four months ago citing health reasons, made his first public address on Friday at a book launch, praising the RSS philosophy and vision of making a stronger nation.

Jagdeep Dhankhar says,… pic.twitter.com/496pmUvF0u

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As the former VP was speaking, his aides alerted him about his upcoming flight. “Main flight pakadne ke chinta se apne kartavya ko nahin chhod sakta (I cannot neglect my duty out of worry about catching my flight),” he said. “And friends, my recent past is proof of it.”

Dhankhar had cited “health reasons” while resigning as vice president in July. The resignation came on a day he presided over Rajya Sabha. Since then, he has largely kept out of the public eye — except for an appearance at his successor C P Radhakrishnan’s swearing-in in September.

At Friday’s book launch in Bhopal, the former VP said Vaidya’s book came at an opportune time — “the centenary celebrations of RSS, the most stabilising force in Bharat, home to one sixth of humanity and for global welfare”.

Dhankar warned that “amid unprecedented global churning in security, we find security getting threatened”.

“Expansion becoming a state policy of some countries. Economic challenges and menacing climate change alongside and you know it more than I do, demographic anxieties, demographic variations with a purpose, demographic variations linked to grabbing of power, information warfare… Artificial intelligence, internet of things, blockchain, machine learning, and then there is civilizational contestation. It urges India to draw on its deepest heritage,” he said.

He said the world was facing challenges where “people are restive”.

“We see all round turbulence and disturbance, uncertainty and unpredictability. And the only solution to that is we must fall back to our civilisational essence,” he said.