Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped out of his official residence for the first time on Monday for a dental check-up after remaining house-bound for over a month since his resignation.
Sources in the security establishment said he was driven to the army’s Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan for the check-up.
Since his sudden and unexpected resignation on July 21, citing health concerns, the 74-year-old Dhankhar had not been seen in public, deepening the mystery over his whereabouts. Several Opposition leaders demanded answers from the Narendra Modi government, terming his disappearance a "mystery of national concern”.
A security official said on Monday that Dhankhar had been living at the VP’s official residence on Church Road near the Parliament House complex after his resignation. “The former VP came out of his bungalow today for the first time after his resignation, as he had an appointment with a dentist at the army hospital. He will vacate the house in a day or two,” the official said.
The vice-presidential elections are scheduled for September 9, and Dhankhar has to vacate the house before that.
Dhankhar, the official said, is likely to move to a private farmhouse in south Delhi’s Chattarpur enclave owned by Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Abhay Singh Chautala.
Chautala, a Jat leader from Haryana, is the grandson of former deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal and son of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. Dhankhar is a Jat from Rajasthan.
According to government rules, former Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Prime Ministers are allotted Type-8 bungalows.
Sources said Dhankhar’s office had already submitted a formal requisition for housing in accordance with the rules, but it would take two to three months for him to get a new bungalow. The decision to move to a private accommodation is a stopgap arrangement.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal had said he was contemplating filing a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court to get information on Dhankhar’s whereabouts after he disappeared from public view following his abrupt resignation.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also questioned where Dhankhar was “hiding” and why he had gone “completely silent”.
The last communication from Dhankhar was at 9.25pm on July 21, when he posted on X his resignation letter to the President.
Last week, home minister Amit Shah had in an interview to ANI claimed that Dhankhar had resigned because of poor health but sidestepped the Opposition’s questions on his whereabouts and alleged “house arrest”.
He had dismissed speculation that Dhankhar was planning a coup.
“One shouldn’t stretch it too much and find something. There are many positive stories in the country, and one shouldn’t go after such issues,” Shah had said.
Sources said the former Vice-President had applied for a pension as a former legislator in Rajasthan.