From Swipes At Oppn To Training Guns On Judiciary, Decoding Dhankhar’s Design
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Beyond the image he cultivates of a happy-go-lucky Vice-President, Dhankhar is an astute probing mind that chooses his time and words carefully
As much a player to gallery as Venkaiah Naidu was with his witty one-liners, Dhankhar is known for his long speeches smattered with pointed comments. (PTI)
When Jagdeep Dhankhar became the Vice-President, it was seen as an attempt to make the Trinamool Congress uncomfortable in the Rajya Sabha. The TMC, which has always been the loudest voice in the Upper House, had a bitter association with Dhankhar in West Bengal when he was the governor and run-ins between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and him had become routine.
Taking on the TMC was not the only reason Dhankhar was chosen as the V-P. A jurist specialising in Constitutional norms was considered the most able candidate to take on a belligerent Opposition, which was more aggressive in Rajya Sabha than in the Lok Sabha. The TMC had warned opposition parties that “things could be tough with Dhankhar as V-P”. Over time, the other parties too realised that he was no pushover.
As much a player to gallery as Venkaiah Naidu was with his witty one-liners, Dhankhar is known for his long speeches smattered with pointed comments. This is why he has often faced the Opposition’s ire. Dhankhar, perhaps, is the only constitutional head to face two impeachment notices in recent times.
The instances are many. For example, last year, when Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed his decision to allow Jayant Chaudhary to speak about his late father, Dhankhar called him a “person who can feast at the cremation ground”, drawing strong opposition from the Congress. Also, the V-P’s move to term himself an “Eklavya” of the RSS did not sit well with the Opposition, which claimed that it was proof of him being biased.
Dhankhar also missed no opportunity to hit out at opposition parties for their comments outside Parliament too. For example, when Rahul Gandhi travelled abroad and criticised the government for compromising on the Constitution, Dhankhar took a veiled swipe at him, saying: “The pattern of prejudice against reservation has been handed over to a person holding a constitutional position, who is making serialised anti-India rants on foreign soil and is talking about ending reservations.”
Recently, the V-P could not resist an attack on the Supreme Court for rejecting the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), calling it a “dark day” and “an act of glaring instance of severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the mandate of the people”.
More recently, he has come down heavily on the Supreme Court, calling Article 142 a “nuclear missile which is used by the top court to run down legislations”.
While many lawyers, legal experts and the opposition party may not agree with Dhankhar, the man chose his words carefully on a day when the top court was hearing the Waqf issue.
Dhankhar usually projects himself as a jester and loves to talk. He is open in his praise of his wife Sudesh and says he cannot—and will not—go anywhere without her. But, beyond this image he cultivates of a happy-go-lucky V-P, Dhankhar is an astute probing mind that chooses his time and words carefully.
For the government, he ticks all the right boxes. His experience as jurist comes in handy while conducting affairs in the Upper House, while his background from Rajasthan bolsters his down-to-earth, risen-from-the-ranks image.
However, for the Opposition, Dhankhar is someone who bends over backwards to please the prime minister and the government. They feel that under him, the Rajya Sabha has sunk to new lows. TMC leaders like Kalyan Banerjee are unrepentant in taking him on. He had once mocked and mimicked the V-P on the steps of Parliament’s Makar Dwaar, bringing to fore the old enmity between the two sides.
Unbothered by the criticism, the Vice-President is clearly on a mission. Given his belief that the Parliament is supreme, his fight against the judiciary seems to be a clear attempt to assert the notion. The man is clearly on a path to take on the judiciary and possibly push for an NJAC-like legislation.