New Delhi: Almost two months after his abrupt resignation on health grounds, following which he was not seen in the public, former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar made his first public appearance on Friday (September 12) to attend the oath-taking ceremony of his successor C.P. Radhakrishnan.

Radhakrishnan took oath as the 15th vice president of India on Friday after he won the elections by defeating the opposition INDIA bloc’s candidate, former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy. Radhakrishnan won 452 votes, against Reddy’s 300. While the NDA candidate secured a comfortable victory, the NDA candidate did not cross 500 votes this time, unlike in the two previous vice presidential elections. In the 2022 election, Dhankhar won 528 votes, while his predecessor M. Venkaiah Naidu got 516 votes.

Dhankhar was seen seated next to his predecessor Naidu, and Hamid Ansari in the front row where Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also seated. He was seated adjacent to the row in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seated along with Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh. Dhankhar was also later seen congratulating Radhakrishnan after he took oath.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dhankhar, who had not spoken in public or issued a statement since his resignation on July 21, had come out with a communique to congratulate Radhakrishnan.

Dhankhar’s appearance on Friday comes as mystery continues to surround his resignation and whereabouts.

While Dhankhar is believed to be staying at Abhay Singh Chautala’s farmhouse according to reports, he has not spoken in public since his resignation. Neither has any member of the BJP shed any light on his whereabouts, or the circumstances that led to his resignation.

Dhankhar, who served a contentious tenure as vice president, resigned on July 21, the first day of the monsoon session, hours after he had chaired the proceedings of the house. Accused of being partisan, Dhankhar had also faced an opposition motion for his removal in December. In his last day in office however, he showed no indication of his impending resignation that would come hours later.

In the initial 15 hours since his note announcing his resignation on health grounds was published on X, there had not been any public acknowledgements of his move. It was only the next day at noon that Modi wrote a curt post noting that Dhankhar had “got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India”. He then wished him “good health”.

Following his resignation, questions have remained about the circumstances that led to his abrupt departure from office, with opposition members accusing the BJP of being a “use and throw” party even on the day of the vice presidential elections held earlier this week.

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