- Mr Dhankhar was the MLA from Kishangarh in Ajmer district between 1993 and 1998
- His pension as a former Rajasthan MLA was stopped after he was appointed the Bengal governor in 2019
- Mr Dhankhar is entitled to get Rs 42,000 per month as pension as an ex-MLA from Rajasthan
Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned on July 21, citing health reasons, has written to the Rajasthan Assembly asking for his pension as a former Congress MLA from the state to be restarted.
The application, sources said, was submitted over a month ago and is being processed.
Mr Dhankhar, born in the village of Kithana in Jhunjhunu district, began his political career with the Janata Dal and was elected Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu in 1989. He also served as a minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. Later, he joined the Congress and contested the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, but did not win.
In the 1993 state elections, he tried his luck again on a Congress ticket and became the MLA from Kishangarh in Ajmer district for one term, until 1998.
After Mr Dhankhar was appointed the Governor of West Bengal in 2019, his pension as a former Rajasthan MLA was stopped and remained that way after he was elected Vice President in August 2022. After his resignation, however, he asked for it to be restarted.
The pension for a former Rajasthan MLA starts at Rs 35,000 per month for a single term and those above the age of 70 get a 20% hike. Mr Dhankhar, 74, is, thus, entitled to Rs 42,000 pension per month as a former legislator.
Vidhan Sabha sources said Rajasthan Speaker Vasudev Devnani has marked and sent the former vice-president's application to the Assembly secretary, and it is being processed.
Resignation Impact
Mr Dhankhar is from the Jat community and is believed to hold sway among it. In Rajasthan, the Jats make up about 12 to 16 per cent of the voting population and can make or break an election. The former vice-president's sudden exit, and the speculation around it, could impact the Jat vote bank in the state, say analysts
Speaking to NDTV, Jat community leader Raja Ram Meel had admitted that this could lead to some heartburn and urged the former vice-president to clear the air.
Mr Dhankar, however, has been silent on the matter and the BJP has also said that the resignation was because of health reasons.
But Congress Spokesperson Pratap Singh Khachariyavas on Saturday attacked Mr Dhankhar and asked why he was refusing to speak.
"Why are you silent? The people of Rajasthan are seeing that you are writing letters asking for privileges as an MLA - and he was a Congress MLA at the time, mind you - so he should come out openly and say the BJP has been unkind to him and done him an injustice. Why does he not come out openly and say what has been done to him? If he can't speak for himself, it would be foolish of the Congress to take up the cudgels on his behalf," Mr Khachariyavas said.
Speculation
After Mr Dhankhar resigned, there was intense speculation that the government was unhappy with his decision, as the Rajya Sabha chairperson, to accept a motion by opposition MPs on the removal of High Court Justice Yashwant Varma, at whose house bundles of cash were allegedly found. The Centre had already prepared a motion and wanted to introduce it in the Lok Sabha.
Sources had said a motion concerning Mr Dhankhar had then been prepared, and he stepped down the same day.
Earlier this month, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had also remarked on Mr Dhankhar's exit and said there was a "story" behind it.
"Just yesterday I was having a conversation with somebody and I said, you know, where is the old vice president gone? He's gone," the Congress MP said.
