Jagdeep Dhankhar: A Rajya Sabha Chairman at daggers drawn with Opposition

Dhankhar was elected Vice-President in August 2022 and his term as the Rajya Sabha Chairman began on a controversial note during the Winter Session that year as he called the Supreme Court’s 2015 judgment striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act a “glaring instance” of “severe compromise” of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the “mandate of the people”.

Since then, there have been several instances when he and Opposition MPs have not seen eye to eye:

• In August 2023, Dhankhar told the Opposition that he “could not and would not” direct Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be present in the House as it was the PM’s prerogative like any other MP to come to Parliament. He made this statement as the Opposition benches continued to demand the PM’s presence in the Rajya Sabha to address them on the issue of violence in Manipur.
• The ties between the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Opposition hit a low during the Winter Session last year when 146 MPs were suspended from both Houses of Parliament, mostly over their demand for Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on a Parliament security breach, followed by a discussion on the matter. It was the highest-ever number of suspensions in a Parliament session.
• As the proceedings came to a halt, Dhankhar wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the House, about the “acrimony and disruptions”. Kharge replied saying that “he was firmly in favour of dialogue and discussion”. In his letter, Dhankhar highlighted that the latter’s “refusal to meet him to resolve the political stalemate” was “not in sync with parliamentary practices” and sought a meeting. Kharge had declined Dhankhar’s invitation and in a letter said that the mass suspension of MPs was “premeditated” and “weaponised” by the ruling party to sabotage parliamentary practices.
• This June, Dhankhar courted controversy after Kharge entered the Well of House during a protest against paper leaks, with Dhankhar saying this was the first time that a LoP had done such a thing and called it a “stain” on Parliament. Kharge responded by saying he was trying to grab the attention of the Chairman who was looking towards the Treasury benches.
• In July, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal questioned the manner in which the Upper House was being run by Dhankhar and claimed that in no country the presiding officer of a House “frequently interrupts” members during their speeches.
• The same month, Dhankhar said the RSS has “unimpeachable credentials” and Constitutional rights to contribute to the development of the nation. “RSS is an organisation which is a global think tank of the highest order…,” he said in the House while responding to a comment from Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman that the government’s main criterion for appointments was if a person belongs to the RSS.
• In September, in an apparent reference to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, Dhankhar, without naming him, said nothing was more condemnable than someone holding a Constitutional post becoming “part of enemies of the nation”. Dhankhar was speaking at Parliament to the third batch of the Rajya Sabha internship programme. During his visit to the United States that week, Gandhi said “love, respect, and humility” were missing from Indian politics.

Strained ties with Mamata Banerjee

Before he was elected Vice-President, Dhankhar served as the Governor of West Bengal when he had several run-ins with the government of Mamata Banerjee and became a vocal critic of the state administration.

From the law and order situation in the state and post-poll violence to corruption accusations, alleged lapses in bureaucracy and the appointment of vice-chancellors in state universities, Dhankhar never shied away from criticising the government, which accused him of sitting on important BIlls. The situation took a turn for the worse when the state government in 2022 replaced the Governor with the CM as chancellor of state universities.

His relationship with Mamata Banerjee became so acrimonious that the CM even blocked Dhankhar on social media. His relationship with Speaker Biman Banerjee was no less bitter, with the Speaker in 2021 complaining to then President Ram Nath Kovind about Dhankhar allegedly interfering in matters of the government.

Dhankhar’s political journey

Born into a farmer’s family at Kithana village in Jhunjhunu district in 1951, Dhankhar studied at a local government school before going to Sainik school in Chittorgarh. He studied law at the University of Rajasthan and became a professional lawyer, going on to serve as the president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association.

Dhankhar started his political journey with the Janata Dal and in 1989, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu. After that, he moved to state politics and was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly in 1993 from Kishangarh on a Congress ticket. He again tried his luck in the Lok Sabha elections in 1998 but lost from Jhunjhunu. Starting that year, Dhankhar served as a full-time senior advocate in the Supreme Court and in 2003 switched to the BJP. He advised the party on important legal matters.