JAGDEEP Dhankhar elected India’s Vice President

AS expected, Chaudhary Jagdeep Dhankhar, lawyer turned politician, has been elected Vice President of India for a five year tenure polling 528  out of 725 votes. Venkaiah Naidu’s term as Vice President will end on August   10 after which the new Vice President will take over. Dhankhar with Socialist background, popularly called Kisan Putra for his birth in the  farming community at  Kithana in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan  was  nominated by the ruling NDA. Out of 780 MPs, 725 MPs voted till 5 pm, PTI reported quoting officials. After studying law in his home state, he started practicing in the Rajasthan High Court. Later, he moved to the Supreme Court of India. In the VP elections, he defeated Margaret aged Margaret Alva, 81, from Karnataka. She was Union Minister during Congress headed UPA Government and was Rajasthan and Jharkhand Governor till 2014. She was backed by INC, NCP, RJD, DMK TRS, Samajwadi Party,   the Left among others. Despite TMC staying away from voting in the VP polling on  August 6, 2022 alleging it was not taken into confidence about her candidature before announcement, Sishir and Debyebdu Adhikari voted for Dhankhar. He was Lok Sabha Member and MLA and   had served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the Chandra Shekhar Government. The VP, who is also ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, India’s Upper House of Parliament, is elected by Parliamentarians including the nominated Members. He served as the Governor of West Bengal from July 30, 2019 to July 17, 2022. Besides ruling BJP, Dhankhar   was backed by BJD, YSRCP, JDU, SAD, AIADMK, Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena and other regional parties. He completed his school education at Sainik School in Chittorgarh and then graduated in B.Sc and LLB from the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur. Dhankhar was born  to Gokal Chand and Kesari Devi in Kithana, a small village in Jhunjhunu in a Hindu Jat family. He married Sudesh    in 1979, and they have a daughter, Kamna. Edited by PK Chakravarty. Photo courtesy : India Today