Union Health Minister and BJP chief J.P. Nadda revealed on Tuesday that Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's office had been officially informed of his and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's inability to attend a planned meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on Monday night—mere hours before Dhankhar resigned on grounds of ill health.
Nadda's explanation was in response to queries raised by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh regarding the non-participation of prominent government leaders, such as the Leader of the Rajya Sabha and Rijiju, in the very important meeting.
"The Vice President's office was informed of our inability to attend the meeting," Nadda explained when questioned by reporters over Ramesh's claims.
The comments came after a top-level meeting presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, which included top Cabinet officials, such as Nadda, Kiren Rijiju, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Vice President Dhankhar had resigned late on Monday evening, giving medical reasons for going out of office immediately. His resignation was addressed specifically to President Droupadi Murmu.
But the Congress party alleged that Dhankhar's resignation could have been due to reasons other than the cited health concerns.
Jairam Ramesh claimed Dhankhar could have taken offense at the fact that the important ministers of the BAC meeting were absent. Ramesh said that Dhankhar "took umbrage" since Nadda and Rijiju had skipped the BAC meeting.
As political intrigue increases, the development has poured a new layer of drama into the ongoing events in the upper house of Parliament.
Read also| VP Jagdeep Dhankhar Resigns Citing Health Reasons as Monsoon Session Begins
