New Delhi: NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected the 14th Vice-President of India on Saturday succeeding M Venkaiah Naidu.
Vice Presidential Election: NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar won by 346 votes as he bagged 528 of the total 725 votes that were cast. While 15 were termed invalid, Opposition candidate Margret Alva received 182 votes in the election
— Dynamite News (@DynamiteNews_) August 6, 2022
The 71-year-old Dhankhar defeated the opposition’s consensus candidate Margaret Alva to pave the way for the Office of the Vice-President.
#VicePresidentialElection #Breaking | NDA candidate #JagdeepDhankhar wins the election for the second-highest constitutional post. @jdhankhar1 pic.twitter.com/yLf9Hp8fQX
— Dynamite News (@DynamiteNews_) August 6, 2022
Dhankar belongs to a Jat family in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, and was a leading lawyer of the Rajasthan High Court.
He practised in the Supreme Court as well.
Having joined the Janata Dal, he won the Lok Sabha election from Jhunjhunu in 1989, becoming an MP for the first time. He was Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the Chandra Shekhar government (1990-91). He later joined the Congress and contested from the Kishangarh assembly seat in Ajmer in 1993, remaining an MLA until 1998.
Dhankar joined the BJP in 2003 and was appointed Governor of West Bengal in July 2019.