The fall of a loyalist: Why India’s Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar had to resign

When the Vice-President of India suddenly resigned last week, it took everyone by surprise, not least the media which had absolutely no idea that something so big was brewing. On the very first day of the Monsoon session of parliament, in a letter to the President, Jagdeep Dhankar cited health reasons for stepping down but it was quite clear that this was not the case.

Within hours, BJP leaders were feeding stories to the media about why the government was upset with Dhankar. He was going to allow an opposition sponsored impeachment motion against a judge, he gave the opposition too much time on the floor of the house, he was rude to ministers, he wanted his portrait to be hung in government offices, he wanted a Mercedes car - the list of allegations is a long one and reads like a chargesheet.