Jagdeep Dhankar Rejected IAS Chance, Picked Up Law At 35 Instead
At 35, Jagdeep Dhankhar became the youngest president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association and played a key role in securing OBC status for Jats in Rajasthan
Long before his ascent to the Vice President's office, Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned from his post on Monday evening, made a pivotal choice that shaped his career. Despite clearing the civil services examination, he declined a government posting and instead pursued a career in law.
In 1979, he enrolled with the Rajasthan Bar Council and began practicing at the Rajasthan High Court and later the Supreme Court, laying the foundation for a legal and political journey that would span decades.
Dhankhar quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association at the age of 35 in 1990, and was designated a Senior Advocate in the same year. His legal acumen was instrumental in securing OBC status for the Jat community in Rajasthan.
Jagdeep Dhankhar's journey from the village of Jhunjhunu to becoming the 14th Vice President of India and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is a testament to his struggle, education, and dedication. Born on 18 May 1951 into a Jat farmer family in Kithana, a small village in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, he was instilled with the values of simplicity and hard work by his parents, Gokal Chand and Kesari Devi.
Dhankhar, the second of four siblings, overcame numerous challenges in his childhood, demonstrating perseverance that eventually led him to one of the highest offices in the country.
From Village Schools To Sainik School And Beyond
Dhankhar received his primary education at a government primary school in Kithana, walking 4-5 kilometres to school each day. After completing fifth grade, he attended the government middle school in Ghardhana and later enrolled in Sainik School, Chittorgarh, where the military-oriented education further shaped his character.
Despite being selected for both IIT and NDA while at Sainik School, he chose to focus on his studies, earning a BSc (Hons) in Physics from Maharaja College, Jaipur, and an LLB from Rajasthan University in 1978-79. Although he passed the Civil Services Examination, he decided to pursue advocacy instead of joining the IAS.
Dhankar's Political Journey
Dhankhar's political journey began when he won the Lok Sabha election from Jhunjhunu in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket, becoming an MP for the first time. He served as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the Chandrashekhar government from 1990-91.
When the Janata Dal denied him a ticket in 1991, he joined the Congress and became an MLA from Kishangarh in Ajmer in 1993. He later joined the BJP in 2003.
Dhankhar served as the Governor of West Bengal from 2019 to 2022, where his differences with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee frequently made headlines. In 2022, he was chosen as the Vice Presidential candidate by the NDA, winning the election by defeating Margaret Alva with 74.37% of the votes.
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The Print
18 minutes ago
- The Print
Dhankhar's resignation: How Modi-Shah's ‘capable' BJP has served another strong message to RSS
Preparing to vacate the Vice President's Enclave barely three km from there, Jagdeep Dhankhar would have been bemused had he heard the BJP leader's assertions about the party's ideological moorings and priorities. The last time I visited the old VP House, his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, wasn't very keen on moving to the new official residence that was under construction then. 'Almost two years are already gone. Why to move to a new place (for the remaining tenure)?' she had told me over breakfast. It wasn't going to be their choice, obviously. In hindsight, her reluctance turned out to be a sort of premonition. Their daughter and her family never shifted to the VP House and preferred to stay put in Gurgaon. These facts give us a glimpse of how the Dhankhar family was always practical and modest, and harboured no vaulting ambitions. The Congress, said the above-mentioned BJP functionary, is a leader-driven political party with the sole objective to attain power. 'We are not a political party. We are a cadre-driven ideological party,' he said. If someone felt a pinch of salt in the chaat, it was deliberate. To validate his point, the BJP leader narrated the story of the demolition of Ayodhya's Babri mosque in 1992. Only two persons knew about the plan — Moropant Pingle and Ashok Singhal. Even LK Advani and Kalyan Singh had no idea about it, he said. Pingle was 'very clear' that the mosque had to go even if it meant the BJP not coming to power for 500 years. 'So, you see, ours is an ideology-driven party,' the BJP MP summed up. At Shashi Tharoor's 'mango and chaat' party last Thursday, a BJP spokesman and parliamentarian — a brainy, erudite one, not one of those peddlers of banality — was holding forth on how his party was different. A few Congress politicians from Kerala had sneaked in and out, noticing the conspicuous absence of senior leaders. BJP leaders could, therefore, relish the succulent mangoes and talk about the virtues of their party without having to care about any spoilsport lurking around. The 'reasons' Jagdeep Dhankhar would know why he was suddenly in the BJP's crosshairs. His 'ouster' had much to do with the party's ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and what JP Nadda would call the BJP's 'sakshamta' or capability. I will come to it a bit later. Let's first look at the reasons for Dhankhar's resignation. Nobody is buying the medical reason as mentioned in his resignation letter. That he quit under duress is an open secret. Let's examine the reasons that BJP leaders have been giving on the condition of anonymity. First, that the Narendra Modi-led government was uneasy about his diatribe against the judiciary. Really! The National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 was one of the first legislations brought by the Modi-led government. Remember the 'tyranny of the unelected' remark by then-finance minister Arun Jaitley when the Supreme Court struck it down? Senior ministers and BJP leaders have been attacking the highest judiciary since then. In April, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said that the Supreme Court was responsible for 'inciting religious wars' and then-Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for 'civil wars' in India. Now compare their scathing remarks about the judiciary with those of ex-VP Dhankhar. Do you still think that the VP's criticism of the judiciary could be one of the reasons for his ouster? No way. In 2018, a few weeks after four Supreme Court judges had addressed a press conference, triggering a huge controversy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a few journalists from a prominent English newspaper. I have it from authoritative sources that when they asked him about the judges' presser, he told them, 'You should know that a handful of families control the entire judiciary — just 60. But you media people don't write about it.' As a brilliant investigation done by my colleague, Apoorva Mandhani, early this year, PM Modi's figure was a bit exaggerated but he was right about the prevalence of dynasties and nepotism in the judiciary. Apoorva found out that 60 per cent of the SC judges were from lawyer or judge families. And one in three High Court judges were related to judges, ex-judges or lawyers. These figures vindicate Modi whose government has perpetually been at odds with the Supreme Court collegium over judicial appointments. In this backdrop, one has to be incredibly credulous to buy BJP spin masters' argument that the government got rid of VP Dhankhar for harmonious relationship with the judiciary. Another explanation offered by them is that Dhankhar had started embarrassing the government by publicly criticising it. They offer just one instance — when Dhankhar had, in the presence of Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, questioned the government for not fulfilling its promises to farmers. 'How could he say that to Shivraj Chouhan?' — is the usual refrain of spin masters. Their sympathy is touching given how Chouhan was denied CMship even after leading his party to a historic victory in Madhya Pradesh in the last Assembly election. Also, Dhankhar had prefaced his sympathy for farmers with dollops of praise for the government. 'For the first time, I have seen India changing…India was never at such great heights…when this is happening, why are farmers suffering?' he had said. As it was, Dhankhar seemed to be playing to the gallery. Besides, that was the only time he said something that might be construed as remotely critical of the government. The spin masters would have us believe that the BJP top brass remembered Shivraj Singh Chouhan's pain seven months later and decided to oust the VP. I am not sure if Chouhan is shedding copious tears of joy to see the party high command's sudden love and respect for him. For all we know, he may be dismayed. Yet another reason being offered by spin masters is that Dhankhar, without consulting the government, presented the Opposition's motion to remove Allahabad High Court Judge Yashwant Varma in the Rajya Sabha. The government wanted to move the motion, supported by all parties, in the Lok Sabha. What's the big deal? Dhankhar had only spoken about the Opposition's motion, as any chairperson should ideally do. He had not admitted their motion yet. That's why the government has now declared that they will first go ahead with the motion in the Lok Sabha. The government could have done the same even without throwing Dhankhar under the bus. They just needed to visit Dhankhar in his chamber and ask him not to admit it. Yet another reason being cited is that he was dusting off the Opposition's pending motion to remove Justice Shekhar Yadav for his alleged hate speech case. But how could he have kept mum about one motion against one judge when a similar motion against another judge that was moved later was being taken up by both Houses of Parliament? Also read: Jagdeep Dhankhar's abrupt exit says three things about the Modi govt Dhankhar and the RSS If you have heard of or read more explanations from the government and the party's spin masters for Dhankhar's resignation — nay, removal — just put them through a test of logic and reason. They all sound ludicrous. Just think of the above-mentioned explanations. Are these spin masters listening to what they are saying? Because their explanations project the Modi-led government as so dictatorial and insecure that it won't allow the occupant of the second-highest Constitutional office in India to use his discretion even in routine matters in the Rajya Sabha. Those spin doctors suggest that top BJP leadership has become so arrogant that they can boot out the Vice President of India for acting without taking their permission even in trivial matters. That would be a bigger cause of worry for us. Thankfully, those are not the exact reasons for Dhankhar's ouster. It's a message to the RSS. To be precise, it serves as a response to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's reference to the 75-year ceiling. We often heard Dhankhar singing paeans of the RSS inside and outside the Rajya Sabha. Given that Dhankhar's ideological moorings were not in the RSS, his effusive praise of the Sangh was seen as an outreach to the BJP's ideological patron. The fact is that Dhankhar had grown close to RSS top functionaries over the years and was in constant touch with them. The Sangh was using his legal advice on different issues, including in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case. They grew only closer when he, as the West Bengal Governor, went after the Mamata Banerjee government. Its failure to govern Syama Prasad Mookerjee's home state has always been a sore point for the Sangh. The RSS was instrumental in getting Dhankhar into the Vice President's House. They could only watch in silence as the BJP sent him packing without consulting the Sangh. The chain of events leading to Dhankhar's resignation last Monday had started with Leader of the Rajya Sabha JP Nadda snubbing Dhankhar by skipping the Rajya Sabha Business Advisory Committee meeting called by the latter at 4:30 pm. It must be a coincidence that it was Nadda who had declared last year that the BJP was saksham or capable now and could manage its own affairs without the RSS' interference. Amid the stalemate over the choice of the next BJP president, Dhankhar's sudden ouster is another message to the RSS that the BJP is saksham now and can manage its own affairs. DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
Stage set for fiery debate on Operation Sindoor
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Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
Don't know reason behind Dhankhar's resignation: Kharge
Vijayapura: CongressPresident Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he has no information on the actual reason for Jagdeep Dhankhar resigning as the Vice President. Dhankhar has to tell what really happened as the matter is between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. Noting that Dhankhar always took the government's side, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said he never allowed the opposition, whenever it tried to raise issues, whether it was concerning farmers or poor or on foreign policy issues. "I don't know all those details. He (Dhankhar) was always on the government's side. He should say what happened," Kharge said in response to a question whether Dhankhar was forced to resign as he spoke in favour of farmers. Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said, "When we raised several issues concerning farmers, poor, international issues or foreign policy, he never used to give us an opportunity (in Rajya Sabha as its Chairman)." "When we tried to raise issues by giving notices on issues regarding the poor, atrocities against women, dalits and downtrodden, and incidents like Hindu-Muslim clashes, he did not give us an opportunity. It (reason for Dhankhar's resignation as Vice President) is between him and Modi. We don't have any information on that," he added. In a sudden move, Dhankhar on July 21 evening resigned from his post as Vice President, citing medical reasons, triggering speculation in political circles. In his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Dhankhar said he was stepping down with immediate effect to "prioritise health care". Responding to a question about changing the Karnataka Congress president, Kharge said, "All those things cannot be said now. Will speak later." Currently, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is holding the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president post on an extended tenure. There have been voices within the ruling Congress in the state to replace him, citing him holding two key positions.
