“From being in the fragile five, we became the fifth global economy. It’s unthinkable we will leave behind Germany and Japan soon. Mahatma Gandhi’s dream – that corruption will be eradicated – is about to be fulfilled. There was a time when nothing could be done without middlemen. Middlemen had emerged as a new tribe in society. Corruption was the password for employment, for contract, for opportunities. A big change has occurred in the last decade. Middlemen vanished. The power corridor has been purged. Now decisions are taken with responsibility and transparency. Boys and girls, now you get the most critical advantage that nobody undermines your talent! Patronage has yielded to meritocracy.”
No, this was not an exceptionally articulate BJP spokesperson making exaggerated claims about the Narendra Modi government. Not even a hired propagandist fooling the masses about the imaginary transformation India has undergone. This was Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressing students at the convocation of Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari, Bihar, on December 7.
Dhankhar, who occupies a top constitutional post, is not expected to speak this language. The government’s publicity is not the assignment given to these apolitical functionaries. Yet, he has outshined every spokesperson of the government.
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Speaking at the centenary foundation day of ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai on December 3, he said:
“I have seen India changing for the first time. I am feeling, for the first time, that ‘Viksit Bharat’ is not our dream but our goal. India had never attained this exalted stature. We never enjoyed such clout in the world.”
Why this is important today is because Dhankhar has become the first vice president against whom the opposition parties have moved a no-confidence motion for lack of impartiality that his constitutional position entails. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said Dhankhar’s extraordinary biases as Rajya Sabha chairperson and his passionate advocacy of the Modi government in and outside parliament have bruised the nation’s dignity.
This confrontation has been building up for the last two years and the opposition parties have been explicitly objecting to Dhankhar’s conduct. They have articulated their concerns about his blatantly partisan handling of the Rajya Sabha proceedings on countless occasions. But Dhankhar did not only suppress opposition voices, he habitually hailed the prime minister and went so far as to question the patriotism of Modi’s critics.
He even instigated the citizens to rise against politicians and activists who are critical of Modi’s functioning, an irresponsible act no other person holding a constitutional post has committed in the history of independent India.
Also read: In Full: Opposition’s Notice for No-Confidence Motion Against Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar
In March 2023, Dhankhar clearly asked people to rise against opposition leaders who defame parliament and create disturbances in both Houses, insisting that only their intervention can redeem the situation. Speaking at the three-day ‘Ayurveda Kumbh’ at the Chowdhary Charan Singh University at Meerut, he said:
“Only people’s intervention can bring these elements (in the opposition) on the right path.”
He argued:
“When India is rising, some people have decided to denigrate the country. They have taken a resolve to defame India. One instance I see in front of my eyes. Somebody goes abroad and says the mic is switched off in parliament. Lok Sabha is a big panchayat. Mic has never been switched off there. How can we tolerate it? How torturous is this experience.”
Contending that microphones were switched off during the Emergency when patriots were dumped in jail, Dhankhar said:
“Such a situation will never arise again. I will earnestly request, entreat and appeal to you with folded hands…You express your views openly. Don’t remain silent about such people. Put forward your views fearlessly. This is your responsibility. Only you can do it. Only common people can do it.”
Members of parliament say microphones are indeed switched off in both Houses when something uncomfortable to the ruling establishment is spoken. However, what has been happening these days goes far beyond the mere denial of technical assistance to voice one’s concerns.
While debates are not allowed on critical issues like Chinese intrusion and corporate loot, any reference to businessman Gautam Adani and his relationship with the prime minister is expunged from records.
Using his chair to target Opposition
Suspension of opposition members has become routine and the presiding officers themselves berate, condemn and ridicule Modi’s critics on the floor of the House. Ruling party members are encouraged to make wild, unsubstantiated allegations but “nothing will go on record” starts blaring when the opposition leaders attack the government.
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Dhankhar has used every platform even outside parliament to attack the opposition parties, demonstrating that impartiality intrinsic to his position has little worth.
On December 8, 2024, addressing Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra, Haryana, he said:
“We are seeing some unique challenges to the country nowadays. Some forces create a narrative using money power and other mechanism to hurt India in and outside the country. They want to damage our economy, render our institutions defunct. Their sinister design, pernicious object is to taint, tarnish and diminish our constitutional institutions to run down our growth trajectory. We can’t ignore these forces. Our culture suggests that a time comes when such forces have to be crushed. That’s the message of Gita. I want to give a message that the nation is above everything else. Patriotism needs no calculation, it has to be 100%. We will always keep nation first! Some people are a recipe for chaos – they can only be critics, they can’t think in a positive way.”
This certainly doesn’t reflect the widespread concerns in the country about our domestic institutions like CBI, Enforcement Directorate and SEBI (Securities & Exchange Board of India) not acting objectively on the charges of violations of law.
The opposition has steadfastly refused to accept that demanding accountability and implementation of the rule of law falls in the category of anti-national activity. While the Bofors case was thoroughly debated and investigated even as the Rajiv Gandhi government enjoyed a much bigger majority, demands for investigation into cases like Rafale and Adani affairs were dismissed as disruptive and unpatriotic.
Obviously, opposition leaders didn’t sing along with the ‘radical transformation’ tune that Dhankhar wanted to set in the political discourse. He really worked hard to spread that message of magical advancement, rarely acknowledging the oppositional narrative revolving around unemployment, price rise, vendetta politics and toxic communalism.
Persisting with his passion for painting a rosy picture, Dhankhar said on December 1, 2024, speaking at IIT Kanpur:
“India was a different country but now it’s a nation with hope and possibility. Now it’s a nation on economic upsurge, now it’s a nation with phenomenal infrastructure, now it’s a nation whose performance in sea, on land, in sky, or space is getting global accolades. In the past decade, Bharat has witnessed remarkable transformation and innovation. The landscape has been thoroughly revolutionised for the better.”
A Modi ‘cheerleader’
Speaking at the NHRC function on December 10, 2023, he said:
“Our Amrit Kaal became Gaurav Kaal [time of pride] primarily due to the blossoming of human rights and values.”
While ‘Amrit Kaal’ is Modi’s imagination, the opposition’s narrative is about a phase of crisis for human rights and constitutional values.
The vice-president doesn’t stand in between, he chooses to ride the government juggernaut and propagate their ideas. That’s the job of a public relations department, ably performed by the mainstream media these days.
In March 2023, Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh bluntly asked the vice-president not to act like Modi’s “cheerleader”.
When Dhankhar attacked Rahul Gandhi for talking about diminishing democracy during his foreign interactions, Ramesh said, “There are certain offices which require us to shed our prejudices, our party allegiances and compel us to rid ourselves of whatever propaganda we may have imbibed along the way. The office of the Vice President of India, an office on which the Constitution bestows the additional responsibility of being the Chair of the Rajya Sabha, is foremost amongst these.”
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Describing the Rajya Sabha chairman as “an umpire, a referee, a friend, philosopher and guide to all”, Ramesh said, “He cannot be a cheerleader for any ruling dispensation. History measures leaders not on the zealousness with which they defended their party, but the dignity with which they performed their roles in the service of the people.” Dhankhar smelt a conspiracy to derail India’s growth trajectory, echoing sentiments expressed by the BJP and Union ministers.
Speaking at a book release function, Dhankhar said:
“Bharat, now in Amrit Kaal, is the most functional democracy that has evoked global recognition. India is setting global discourse on many issues. All Indians are elated that the country is on the rise like never before and its upward growth trajectory is unstoppable as we are on our way to 2047.”
The “never-before” rhetoric lacked substance because the GDP grew at a higher rate under Manmohan Singh. Dhankhar further said:
“How ironic, how painful! While the world is applauding our historic accomplishments as a functional vibrant democracy, some amongst us including parliamentarians are engaged in the thoughtless, unfair denigration of our well-nurtured democratic values. How can we justify such wanton orchestration of a factually untenable narrative?”
He added:
“And mark the timing of this unwholesome misadventure – while India is having its moments of glory – as President of G20 and there are people outside of the country working in overdrive to denigrate us.”
In a strong posturing that looked like a political assault, Dhankhar declared:
“Such misplaced campaign mode to taint and tarnish our parliament and constitutional entities is too serious and exceptional to be ignored or countenanced. No political strategy or partisan stance can justify compromising our nationalism and democratic values. If I observe silence on this misadventure-orchestration by a member of parliament outside the country which is ill-premised, unwholesome and motivated, I would be on the wrong side of the constitution. It will be constitutional culpability and outrage of my oath of office.”
He went on to instigate a public uprising against the Congress leader, saying:
“I call upon everyone – intelligentsia, media and youth who are our warriors of 2047 to rise to the occasion, expose these forces and neutralise them.”
Little wonder, the BJP government has declared its intent to defend the vice president who talks more like the ruling party’s commander-in-chief with full force.
Sanjay K. Jha is a political commentator
