Where is Dhankhar, asks Rahul, at VP nominee felicitation

NEW DELHI: Urging fellow MPs to remember the reason behind the premature vice-presidential election, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Wednesday asked, "where has the old VP gone", echoing queries about Jagdeep Dhankhar 's whereabouts in the wake of his absence from public view since his shock resignation exactly a month ago. He even joked that search for Dhankhar has become like "those Agatha Christie books".

At a gathering of opposition MPs to felicitate their VP candidate B Sudershan Reddy , Rahul said there was a story behind why Dhankhar stepped down and there is a story behind "why he is in hiding". He said, "Why is the (former) VP of India in a situation where he cannot say a word, one word, and has to hide... everybody knows it.... Suddenly, the person who used to burst forth in Rajya Sabha has gone silent, completely silent. So, these are the times we are living in".

Kharge framed the contest between Reddy and BJP nominee CP Radhakrishnan as "Constitution vs RSS". He said, "It is an ideological battle for the soul of our nation. While the ruling party has chosen the ideology of RSS, we uphold the Constitution as our guiding light."

In an allusion to complaints the opposition had with Dhankhar as the Rajya Sabha chairman, Kharge said Reddy's nomination is a promise of restoring fairness to the functioning of the Upper House.