Jagdeep Dhankhar Was Elected As India's 16th Vice President

Dhankhar Beats Margaret Alva Of Opposition In Vice President Election

Jagdeep Dhankhar, a former governor of West Bengal, was elected to serve as India's 16th vice president. In order to win, he defeated Margaret Alva of the opposition. On August 11, one day after M. Venkaiah Naidu's term as president comes to an end, Dhankhar, 71, will take the oath of office as vice president. Following Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who served in the position from 2002 to 2007, he will be the second vice president from Rajasthan.

Vice President Election Tally

The opposition's Margaret Alva received 182 votes, while the NDA nominee received a total of 528 first preference votes. Mr. Dhankhar won with 74.36%. He earned the highest margin of victory in the six vice presidential elections that had been held since 1997. 725 of the total 780 electors cast ballots, but 15 were later determined to be invalid. With 92.94% participation, a candidate required 356 votes to win the election. KR Narayanan, who received 700 out of the 701 votes cast in 1992, holds the record for having the biggest victory margin. The performance of Dhankhar in this election was superior by 2% to Naidu's in 2017.

About Mr Dhankhar 

Mr. Dhankhar was born on May 18, 1951, in the Rajasthani district of Jhunjhunu. He began his education in a local school before being awarded a scholarship to attend the Sainik School in Chittorgarh. He then earned degrees in both physics and law from Rajasthan University. Before beginning a career in politics, he was a practising attorney. Mr. Dhankhar, a member of the Jat community, is also rumoured to have received mentoring from Chaudhary Devi Lal, a former deputy prime minister in the V.P. Singh administration. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu in 1989, and after Devi Lal left the V.P. Singh administration in 1990, Mr. Dhankhar did likewise. He was then named Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the Chandra Shekhar administration.

"Chandra Shekhar Connection"

In fact, this time around, the Rajya Sabha would have a special "Chandra Shekhar connection." While Mr. Dhankhar was a minister in that administration, Deputy Chairperson Harivansh worked as Chandra Shekhar's media adviser, and Neeraj Shekhar, the late prime minister's son, is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Dhankhar joined the Congress after the Chandra Shekhar administration fell, won the Rajasthan Assembly elections, and served as an MLA from 1993 to 1998. He focused on his legal practice from 1998 until 2008, when he joined the BJP, while evaluating his political choices. While all this was a hefty political career, When Mr. Dhankhar was named Governor of West Bengal in 2019, he immediately became a household name. He had strong beliefs, didn't mind using harsh words to convey them, and frequently disagreed with the Mamata Banerjee-led state government. He spoke passionately on both protocol-related issues and the post-poll violence.

Mr Dhankhar -Strengthening His Party 

From President to Vice President to Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the BJP currently controls every important office. Rajasthanis will preside over both Houses of Parliament as a result of Dhankhar's election. According to sources, Dhankhar's promotion will aid in strengthening the party's support among farmers in the Jat group. In the state where elections for the assembly are scheduled for later next year, approximately 40 out of the 200 seats are subject to significant community influence. This will undoubtedly aid in boosting party support in the Haryana and Rajasthani communities. His move to Delhi as Vice-President is greatly owed to his legal skill and understanding of constitutional issues. He will require all these abilities in his role as Rajya Sabha Chair, where the Treasury and Opposition benches routinely clash.