‘Vice President’s office was intimated’: Nadda on his, Rijiju’s absence from BAC meeting

Union minister J P Nadda said that unlike what Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed, they had informed the Vice President's office that he and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju would not attend the latter session of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).

Ramesh questioning the sudden resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that something “very serious” happened in between the BAC meeting at 12:30 pm, which was attended by Nadda and Rijiju, and the resumption of the meeting at 4:30 pm, which was not attended by Nadda and Rijiju.

"The Vice President's office was intimated about our inability to attend the meeting," said Nadda, when asked about Ramesh’s claims. He was speaking to reporters after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with senior ministers, including Nadda, Rijiju, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Speculations are rife about Dhankhar’s sudden resignation, which the Veep said was due to medical and health reasons. However, questions, specifically from the opposition quarters, have emerged.

While some have questioned the timing, asking why would the Vice President resign on the first day of the Monsoon Session instead of before the commencement of the Parliament if the reasons were indeed related to his health. Some have also said that the reasons are politically motivated, while some have said that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would be able to shed any light on the matter.

CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar said there can be several other reasons for Dhankar's resignation. "Only two persons Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can explain this... one thing is sure that he has not resigned due to health reasons," he told PTI. He added that Dhankar was very enthusiastic in running the House and there can be several other reasons behind his decision.

>Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad expressed shock at the vice president's resignation. "Suddenly in the night we learnt that the vice president has resigned due to health reasons. He was in the House yesterday," he said.

The Congress said that the reasons for Dhankhar’s resignation are “far deeper”. Ramesh also claimed Dhankhar "took umbrage" as Nadda and Rijiju skipped the BAC meeting.