Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 6
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected as the 14th Vice President of India on Saturday.
He defeated joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva. While Dhankhar, the former Governor of West Bengal, secured 528 votes, 80-year-old Alva polled 182.
The numbers were in favour of Dhankhar as the ruling BJP enjoys an absolute majority in Lok Sabha and has 91 members in Rajya Sabha. The BJP heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Soon after the announcement of the result, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Dhankhar and congratulated him.
Dhankhar, 71, will succeed M Venkaiah Naidu whose tenure ends on August 10. However, his rise to become the next vice president has surprised many.
He had been associated with the Janata Dal and the Congress before joining the BJP only in 2008 after a break of nearly a decade when he concentrated on his legal career.
He has championed issues related to Other Backward Classes, including the grant of OBC status to the Jat community in Rajasthan.
While announcing his name as the NDA Vice Presidential candidate, BJP described Dhankhar as “kisan putra”. The move is seen in the political circles as aimed at reaching out to the politically significant Jat community which had participated in huge numbers in the year-long farmers’ protests on the borders of the national capital against agriculture reform measures unveiled in June 2020.
