New Delhi: The Opposition parties have planned a farewell dinner for Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned as the Vice President on July 21, NDTV reported. Quoting sources, the report claimed the Opposition leaders have invited Dhankhar over for a dinner to give him a proper send-off. It was not known if Dhankhar accepted the offer.
This comes a day after it was known that the Congress, which has been questioning the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, sought a “farewell function” him, a demand which has found no takers in the government.
The demand was raised by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh at the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on Wednesday evening.
The government, however, was silent on the issue and Union ministers JP Nadda and Kiren Rijiju did not respond on the demand, news agency PTI reported quoted sources.
The Congress has also been alleging that Dhankhar was “forced” to resign after he accepted a notice signed by Opposition MPs to remove Justice Yashwant Varma, from whose residence charred wads of currency notes were recovered a few months ago.
The demand was raised at a time when the Rajya Sabha is bidding farewell to six of its members on Thursday.
Ambumani Ramadoss, Vaiko, P Wilson, M Shanmugam, M Mohammed Abdulla and N Chandrasegharan are being accorded farewell.
Meanwhile, the BJP-led alliance is set to start consultation for its pick for the key constitutional position amid indications that the Opposition will also join the fray.
This came as the Election Commission formally set in motion the process of electing the next vice president by appointing a returning officer.
In the electoral college that comprises members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has a clear majority as its strength is nearly 425 out of the current total of 782 MPs, making its nominee clear favourite to fill in the position left vacant by the abrupt resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
