Jagdeep Dhankhar as VP nominee beats everyone; that’s what BJP wants

The selection of Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance has the stamp of Narendra Modi all the way.

By conjuring up a name, that made sense only post facto, Prime Minister Modi demonstrated that he is not only the sole dispenser of political positions, but also a leader who does not stick to the same logical framework and dishes out a different raison d’être for similar decisions.

For instance, the nomination of Droupadi Murmu for the presidential election was evidently done with an eye on consolidating tribal vote, besides creating confusion within Opposition ranks by triggering fears of alienating that constituency.

In the case of Dhankhar however, his candidature serves no electoral purpose despite the spin being given to his Jat identity. The reasons behind his selection are extra-electoral. What are they?

‘Kisan putra’

Party leaders, while congratulating Dhankhar after he was nominated, underscored him being a “kisan putra” (son of farmer). He was labelled as someone who “always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised”.

BJP president JP Nadda highlighted the West Bengal Governor’s “illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career”.

Such superlatives do not camouflage Dhankhar’s nondescript political and legal career at the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court.

Also read: Why BJP picked ‘kisan putra’ Jagdeep Dhankar for Vice-President

As a political leader, he served just one truncated term in the ninth Lok Sabha from November 1989 to March 1991, in the course of which he served as junior minister for parliamentary affairs.

Thereafter, Dhankhar switched to the Congress party and was elected for only one term between 1993 and 1998 to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. Almost two and half decades after he last served in a legislative body, he is now certain to become the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

After the only term in the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, Dhankhar was not re-nominated by his party and when he sensed no further future for himself in the Congress, jumped ship to join the BJP in 2003. The saffron party too, never nominated him for any legislative election.

Dhankhar remained in the sidelines in the party, although he was active in the legal cell of the party, while practising in the Supreme Court till he caught the eye of Modi and Amit Shah.

Mysterious choice

It must be mentioned that in 1993, when Dhankhar was elected MLA from Kishangarh in Ajmer district, mid-term elections were necessitated because post-demolition of the Babri Masjid, the BJP government in Rajasthan was dismissed along with those in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Dhankhar’s decision to oppose the BJP brand of politics in that heady poll obviously was not obviously held against him when Modi, who otherwise factors ideological and personal commitment before making selections, appointed him to the Raj Bhawan in West Bengal in July 2019.

Likewise, this past adversarial position of Dhankhar did not prevent him getting Modi’s nod for the VP’s post. It thus needs to be asked — why has Dhankhar been nominated to a constitutional position even though it is no electoral benefit to the BJP?

In hindsight, it is evident that Dhankhar was intimated of his impending selection on July 15, a day before the decision of his candidature was ‘taken’ by the party brass.

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On Friday, July 15, Dhankhar met Amit Shah in New Delhi after arriving from Darjeeling after administering a day earlier, the oath of office to Anit Thapa as Chief Executive Member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

It can be presumed that Shah intimated Dhankhar of the ‘decision’ and the formal process, or meeting, after the conclusion of which, Nadda did the honours of ‘declaring’ the decision was merely a formality for media’s benefit.

By July 2019, when the tenure of the previous incumbent in the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata ended, Keshari Nath Tripathi had already begun riling the chief minister Mamata Banerjee by questioning her powers and creating hurdles for the functioning of the government.

The BJP performed exceedingly well during Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal in 2019 and with the party eyeing power in the state, it wished to position a Governor who would not hesitate from teasing constitutional norms and stick to propriety.

Dhankhar immediately caught the public eye with his strategy to repeatedly exchanging hostilities with Banerjee, many of which were flagged by the chief minister as violating the federal spirit and character of the Indian republic.

Dhankhar scored points with the BJP and government brass by not merely matching Tripathi when it came to locking horns with the state government, but going several steps beyond.

Eye on Rajya Sabha

After his nomination was announced, the choice of Dhankar was praised by Modi. Significantly, the prime minister certified Dhankhar’s “excellent knowledge” of the Constitution.

Modi also asserted that his Vice-Presidential nominee is “well-versed with legislative affairs.”

Having said that, Modi stated the real purpose of Dhankar’s selection: “I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha and guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress.”

The partisan way in which Dhankar behaved as Governor of West Bengal is a pointed template to what can be expected from him as Vice-President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

Central intervention in states through the offices of Governors is an old malaise. Presiding officers acting as zealots is not new in Indian politics.

By selecting Dhankhar, Modi has stripped the Rajya Sabha Chairperson’s office of the veneer of impartiality. The make belief is over and one can expect little but “further national progress” for the next few years.

Also read: TMC MPs write to President Kovind seeking Bengal governor’s removal

It takes little insight to comprehend that complete hegemony of the regime is considered as prerequisite to national growth and progress.

Dhankar’s elevation as Vice-President is with the intention of ‘bullying’ the opposition further. But this will be justified as constitutionally ‘correct’ by the next chair of the Upper House, for he has “excellent knowledge” of the Constitution and is “well-versed with legislative affairs.”

Dhankhar earned his stripes with his extremely combative and vindictive attitude towards the state government and chief minister. His selection has been made with the intention of introducing these attributes to the Upper House.

Expect vindictiveness towards opposition leaders and parliamentarians as the new normal or credo. Seen in conjunction with the enhanced hostility to any form of opposition, the regime appears to be heading into a phase that will witness an all-out offensive against adversaries in various sectors — politics, academia, civil society and media.

Indians will hereafter likely be witness to a House that proceeds completely as per the government’s schedule despite Opposition efforts to raise issues of public importance and laws to be passed with little or no debate.

Whatever feeble voice the Opposition has in the Rajya Sabha will become further inaudible.

Unlike M Venkaiah Naidu or the retiring President and the likely next Head of the State, Dhankhar is not part of the BJP system. His selection sends a message to everyone within the party — casting aside political morality and constitutional propriety is rewarded.

The choice of Dhankar is in sharp contrast to the previous political leader from Rajasthan who was Vice-President. In 2002, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was elevated to the VP’s office.

Satya Narain Sahu, former Press Secretary to KR Narayanan and who served in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for long, reminisced that Shekhawat once “extolled secularism” in one of his speeches.

Furthermore, Sahu recalled that Shekhawat as RS Chairman, “issued ads in newspapers asking people to submit petitions to the Petition Committee of Rajya Sabha so that their grievances would be taken up in the apex legislature.”

Expect no such bipartisan and people-friendly action from the new Chairperson. Anyone who questions the government and the presiding officer will henceforth be browbeaten. Truly, it will be a New India.

(The writer is a NCR-based author and journalist. His books include The Demolition and the Verdict: Ayodhya, the Project to Reconfigure India, The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right and Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times. He tweets at @NilanjanUdwin)