Extra Affair – Bharat Bharadwaj
In the end, the BJP-led NDA selected West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhard as its vice-presidential candidate. BJP is the main body in NDA, so no one is free to accept whatever BJP decides. BJP has already decided the name of Jagdeep Dhankhad. It was decided only when Jagdeep Dhankhade met Modi on Saturday afternoon that the stamp of approval would be stamped on Dhankhade’s name but the formalities were pending.
In the meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board on Saturday, Dhankhad’s name was decided as the vice-presidential candidate after completing that formality. BJP president JP Nadda held a press conference and announced Dhankhad’s name. Now on Monday, Dhankhad will file his candidature. Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha vote in the Vice-Presidential election. NDA has enough strength in both Houses so Dhankhad’s victory is assured once he files his candidature, Dhankhad is sure to replace Venkaiah Naidu as the new Vice President of the country.
By choosing Dhankhad, BJP has given a clear signal that power-oriented politics is important for BJP. Only those people who help BJP in this politics get importance in BJP. It does not matter to the BJP if the principles have been set aside for this power-oriented politics or if the constitution has also been politicized.
BJP itself has broken the illusion that it is a cadre-based party and only those who work hard for the party get importance. BJP has proved it again by choosing Dhankhad. Dhankhad is a Jat leader from Rajasthan but has been associated with the BJP for the past decade and a half. Dhankhad was an MP from Jhonzhunu Lok Sabha in Rajasthan from 1989 to 1991 but was elected on a Janata Dal ticket. From 1989 to 1991 V.P. Singh and Chandrasekhar have also served as Union Ministers in the government but both the governments were not of BJP. Dhankhad was an MLA in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 1998 and was elected on a Congress ticket. Meaning, he has no contribution in the growth or rise of BJP. Although he joined the BJP in 2008, the BJP made him the Governor of a big state like Bengal and now the Vice President.
When the BJP made Dhankhad the governor, the question arose that the BJP is missing smart people or should people like Dhankhad from other parties be made the governor? Now even when BJP made Dhankhad the vice-presidential candidate, the same question arises that the BJP is missing smart people, that a leader from another party like Dhankhad has to be made a candidate for one of the top positions of the country like the vice-presidential post? This question should actually be asked to the BJP leaders, they should ask this question to the leaders sitting above them but BJP now has an army of spineless workers so no one will dare to do that. The question-answer system is over in BJP.
The reasons behind Dhankhad’s selection as Vice President are well known. There is nothing in Dhankhad’s political career that can make him the Vice President. Rather, he had no political career before becoming the Governor of West Bengal, but as the Governor of Bengal, he did such a job that the elders sitting in Delhi became happy and gave him the vice president directly.
If we sit down to talk about the work done by Dhankhad as the Governor of Bengal, the book will be short, but some things need to be mentioned. Dhankhade courted controversy ahead of the 2021 Bengal elections by making comments ranging from the West Bengal government not following the lockdown properly to the police being sidelined and paramilitary forces being deployed in West Bengal.
His role in the violence that started after the results of the Bengal Assembly elections in 2021 was also criticized. Trinamool Congress workers who had come to Rajapath after the Trinamool Congress’s grand victory in the assembly elections had entered the houses of BJP workers and killed them and there were allegations of brutally raping women workers. Videos and pictures of bullying and violence by Trinamool Congress workers were also circulating on social media.
In the wake of this violence BJP national president J. P. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhard on phone after he returned to Delhi and raised the issue after he flew to Bengal immediately and asked for a report. Due to this, Dhankhad, which had come into form, suddenly became active.
Violence broke out in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district in Bengal and four people were killed in firing by the central paramilitary force CISFA. Dhankhad left Sitalkuchi and visited the violence affected areas. After the visit, Dhankhade denied that he would stay by restoring the constitution in Bengal.
Constitutional experts termed Dhankhad’s behavior as childish and political. He expressed the opinion that Dhankhad took a unilateral decision and went to Cooch Behar without asking the state government, which was a violation of the rules established for decades, but Dhankhade did not consider all these things. Dhankhad’s behavior did not please the Governor but Dhankhad did not care. Instead of behaving like a governor, he went to violence-prone areas like a rich political leader and made the post of governor politicized instead of impartial by making statements that the constitution does not exist in Bengal.
Dhankhade also played a prominent role in the Narad sting operation issue. After the results of the Bengal Assembly elections, when the CBI sought permission to file a chargesheet against two ministers of the Mamata Banerjee government, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, Dhankhad showed more enthusiasm than the CBI and immediately approved the application. Shubhendu Adhikari was also an accused in this case but Dhankhade did not raise the issue.
There are other cases of Dhankhad and all these actions made him believe the BJP high command. Because of that, now he will become the Vice President of the country.
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