Jagdeep Dhankhar cruised to a comfortable win against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva
File image of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
New Delhi: Former West Bengal Governor and National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar has won the presidential polls and is set to become the next Vice-President of India.
Dhankar reached Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi’s residence at 11 Akbar Road before the announcement of the results for the Vice Presidential Election.
Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh, who was the presiding officer for the 16th Vice Presidential election, said that of the 780 MPs eligible to cast votes, 725 MPs cast their vote. Fifteen votes were found invalid and 710 votes were valid.
The polling to elect the new vice president began at 10 am today and concluded at 5 pm. The counting of votes began after 6 pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was amongst the first leaders to cast his vote. Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda also cast their votes. Dr Manmohan Singh arrived in a wheelchair to cast his vote. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also cast his vote besides other MPs.
The next Vice-President of the country will take the oath of office on 11 August a day after the term of the incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu ends.
Janata Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK had announced support for Dhankhar. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) extended support to Alva. The Trinamool Congress abstained from the vote.
Dhankhar was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal in 2019. He resigned from the post of West Bengal Governor on 17 July after his name was announced as the vice Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Vice President of India, which is the second-highest constitutional post in the country, is elected through an electoral college consisting of members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
The Vice President of India is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
About Jagdeep Dhankar
Dhankhar was born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district. After finishing his schooling at Sainik School, Chittorgarh, he did graduation in Physics and then pursued an LLB from the University of Rajasthan.
He became one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan and practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court. He also headed the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association.
He forayed into politics in 1989 and was elected to Lok Sabha from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu the same year. He served as a minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs in the Janata Dal government led by Chandra Shekhar.
Dhankhar belongs to the Jat community, a politically important caste that influences votes in a number of north Indian states.
Dhankhar went on to become the governor of West Bengal. He is married to Sudesh Dhankhar and they have a daughter.
With inputs from agencies
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