New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday made official the resignation as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, as she had received his resignation the day before, thereby initiating the process of a new vice presidential election.
In his resignation letter, Dhankhar, 74, cited Article 67(a) of the Constitution and said, “In the interest of health care and taking medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately.”
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat issued a copy of the letter at about 9 pm on Monday. The Election Commission has declared it had received the official notification and would hold an election as soon as practicable, under Article 68(2).
The resignation was technically announced on Tuesday. During the morning session of the Rajya Sabha Business Advisory Committee on Monday, Dhankhar was in the chair and gave no intimation of his decision to quit office.
In the case of the sudden vacancy, Article 124 necessitates the Deputy Chairman to take charge of the Rajya Sabha. Proceedings will be presided over by Harivansh Narayan Singh till a new vice president is elected.
The term of office of Dhankhar was to end in August 2027; he came into office after being elected into office on August 11, 2022 after defeating Opposition candidate Margaret Alva. He is the third vice president in history to vacate the position mid-term, after V.V. Giri in 1969 and R. Venkataraman in 1987. Both of them had resigned as they wanted to become presidential candidates and fought the presidential poll that was to take place. The decision made by Dhankhar has raised eyebrows, though he has had past health issues such as a cardiac event in March 2025 and a collapse in June 2025.
In article 68(2), an election must take place as soon as possible; this is regularly no more than six months. Considering the agenda of the Monsoon Session, this could be an indication of a tad faster calendar.
In his resignation letter, Dhankhar thanked President Murmu for her “unwavering support” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his cooperation, which was “invaluable.” He wrote that serving in such a transformative period of the history of our nation has been an honour, and he added that the economy of this country has been very successful. This was responded to by Prime Minister Modi, who spoke about how much he appreciates Dhankhar’s public service and that he wishes him a quick recovery.
The timing was challenged by the opposition parties; Congress leader Jairam Ramesh termed it as a shocking and inexplicable move. Ramesh reported that he talked to Dhankhar at 7.30 pm on Monday and showed no indication of his planning to resign. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey echoed the same sentiments, saying that it was a politically-calculated move to coincide with the start of the session.
The NDA, which proposed Dhankhar back in 2022, will now nominate his successor. Some of the names in discussion are Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but these have not yet become actual nominations. Members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha should be included in the nomination process, and this should uphold democracy at large under Article 2.