Jagdeep Dhankhar applies for pension as former MLA in Rajasthan
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Former vice-president of India Jagdeep Dhankhar has applied for pension as a former legislator in Rajasthan, officials said.
Dhankhar, who represented the Kishangarh Assembly constituency as a Congress MLA from 1993 to 1998, received pension as a former legislator until July 2019. It was discontinued after he was appointed the governor of West Bengal.
With his tenure as the vice-president ending following his resignation on July 21, Dhankhar has applied afresh to the Rajasthan Assembly secretariat seeking resumption of his pension as a former MLA, the officials said.
The secretariat has initiated the process, and the pension will be applicable from the date his resignation as the vice-president was accepted, they said.
The pension for a former MLA in Rajasthan starts at Rs 35,000 per month for a single term, and goes up with additional terms and age. Those above 70 receive a 20 per cent hike.
Dhankhar, now 74, is entitled to Rs 42,000 pension per month as a former legislator, the officials said.
Meanwhile, officials said Dhankhar is entitled to three pensions -- as a former vice-president, ex-MP, and former member of the Rajasthan Assembly.
While there no pension benefits for Dhankhar as the ex-governor of West Bengal, he can avail one secretarial staff for a monthly reimbursement of Rs 25,000 as a former governor.
As a one-term MP, he is entitled to Rs 45,000 per month as pension, besides other benefits.
As the former vice-president, Dhankhar is entitled for a pension of nearly Rs 2 lakh per month, a Type-8 bungalow, one personal secretary, one additional personal secretary, one personal assistant, one physician, one nursing officer and four personal attendants.
In the case of a former vice-president's death, his or her spouse is entitled to a smaller Type-7 house.
In a surprise move, Dhankhar stepped down as the vice-president on July 21, the opening day of the Monsoon session, citing health grounds.
The move triggered speculation, with the Congress saying it was "totally unexpected" and there was "far more to it than what met the eye".
The Congress claimed there were "far deeper reasons" for Dhankhar's resignation than the health reasons cited by him, saying his resignation spoke highly of him but poorly of those who got him elected to the post.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said that Dhankhar chaired a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Rajya Sabha at 12.30 pm on July 21.
"It was attended by most members, including Leader of the House J P Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. After some discussions, the BAC decided to meet again at 4:30 pm," Ramesh said.
When the BAC reassembled, it waited for Nadda and Rijiju to arrive but they never came, Ramesh said.
"Dhankhar was not personally informed that the two senior ministers were not attending the meeting. So, something very serious happened between 1 pm and 4:30 pm to account for the deliberate absence of Nadda and Rijiju," Ramesh said.
Nadda later said the vice-president's office was informed that he and Rijiju would not attend the BAC meeting convened by Dhankhar shortly before he resigned from the post.
While Dhankhar cited health issues as the ground for his resignation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she believed the former governor's condition was "absolutely fine".
In a cryptic remark, the Trinamool Congress chief hinted that there could be more to the development than what met the eye.
"Let us watch. He is a healthy man. I think his health is absolutely fine," she said.
Some sources also said that Dhankhar accepting an Opposition-backed move to remove Justice Yashwant Verma after the recovery of massive cash from his Delhi residence in March may have triggered the chain of events that led to his sudden resignation.
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
