‘His Well being Is Completely Positive’: Is Mamata Banerjee Sceptical About Dhankhar’s Resignation?

Final Up to date:July 22, 2025, 22:05 IST

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s cryptic feedback on Jagdeep Dhankhar’s sudden resignation hinted — like different opposition events — that it may very well be greater than what meets the attention

Jagdeep Dhankhar’s longtime political adversary, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed scepticism about his shock resignation citing well being points and has declared him “a wholesome man”.

Whereas Banerjee stated she is unwilling to touch upon Dhankhar’s sudden exit, she stated she believed that his situation is “completely positive”. Recognized for her frequent run-ins with him when he was Bengal governor from 2019 to 2022, she made the cryptic remarks throughout a press convention on the state secretariat Nabanna.

She, nevertheless, like different opposition events hinted there may very well be extra to the event than what meets the attention.

“Political events can’t resolve why Mr Dhankhar resigned. I’ve no feedback on the difficulty,” Banerjee stated. “Allow us to watch. He’s a wholesome man. I feel his well being is totally positive.”

The chief minister’s feedback got here amid a political firestorm over Dhankhar’s resolution to give up the publish of vp of India. Many within the opposition claimed that it was “completely surprising” and probably pushed by components past the official line of “prioritising well being care”.

The standard effusive reward showered on an occupant of a excessive workplace on his departure was lacking from the ruling alliance’s aspect, a sign that the federal government was most likely pleased to see him go. It was the opposition, which had signed a discover to question him final yr for his alleged biases, that had good phrases for him.

This was together with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) – a celebration that not solely has a troubled historical past with Dhankhar however has since repeatedly mocked him and referred to as him a “authorities stooge”.

“Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation. Is well being the one motive? If that’s the case, get properly quickly. In any other case, curiosity stays,” stated TMC chief Kunal Ghosh on X, a person identified to be a bitter critic of Dhankhar in his gubernatorial function.

Talking to reporters later, Ghosh stated: “We don’t want to touch upon this, as our high management is observing the state of affairs. He has cited well being causes, so we want him good well being.”

One other senior TMC chief, Sushmita Dev stated she was fairly “stunned” by Dhankhar’s sudden resolution. “I did see some information that he was not conserving properly. However one didn’t think about that it was critical sufficient for him to step down. I believed he would go on depart, recuperate and are available again, so I used to be fairly stunned by his resolution,” she instructed a information channel.

WHY DO DHANKHAR AND MAMATA SHARE A TENSE RELATIONSHIP?

Dhankhar was a harsh critic of the Mamata Banerjee administration throughout his tenure as governor within the state and had typically been on the centre of confrontations with the ruling celebration earlier than being elevated as Vice President in 2022.

The 2 share a deeply adversarial and politically charged relationship. In truth, a few of their spats – typically public and on social media – acquired so ugly that Banerjee even blocked him on X in January 2022, then generally known as Twitter, accusing him unethical and abusive behaviour.

Banerjee has typically described him as a “BJP mouthpiece” whereas repeatedly searching for his removing, alleging obstruction in routine authorities processes. Regardless of an occasional try at a truce, their relationship was fraught with rigidity and confrontational to the purpose that it lasted even after he resigned as governor to imagine the workplace of vp. Whereas presiding over the Rajya Sabha, too, he had been the goal of TMC members within the Home, who resolutely believed him to be politically partisan.

(With PTI inputs)

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