WB Guv Jagdeep Dhankhar to be NDA's candidate for Vice President

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced the name of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Vice Presidential election.

"NDA's candidate for the post of Vice President of India will be Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar has been in public life for more than three decades. Jagdeep Dhankhar's life story reflects the spirit of new India - overcoming innumerable social and economic hurdles and achieving one's goals," said BJP chief JP Nadda.

The decision comes after the BJP parliamentary board meeting held in the party headquarters which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top BJP leaders.

Following the announcement, Modi said he believes Dhankhar will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha and guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress.

"Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji is known for his humility. He brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career. He has always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. Glad that he will be our VP candidate," said Modi in a Twitter post.

"Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has excellent knowledge of our Constitution. He is also well-versed with legislative affairs. I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha and guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress," Prime Minister added.

Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, Dhankhar completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh. After finishing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan.

Despite being a first-generation professional, he became one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan. Dhankhar has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

He entered public life after getting elected as a Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.

Subsequently, he also served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district.

In July 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Opposition parties will meet on Sunday to discuss the candidate for the upcoming Vice Presidential election.

"The meeting on July 17 and all Opposition leaders will attend it. Parliamentary Affairs Minister has also called an all-party meet. So, we will hold a discussion with everyone on the 17th that what kind of a candidate we should have," said Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on the candidate for the Vice Presidential polls.

Kharge said Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has given a go-ahead for a joint Opposition candidate.

"There is no candidate from Congress. Our party president has clearly said that whoever is chosen as the candidate by all parties (of Opposition), we will stand with it," he added.

Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election.

Congress has given the task to Malikarjun Kharge who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha to reach out to opposition parties to select a candidate for the election for the Vice President post.

Nominations for the vice-presidential polls slated to be held on August 6, began on Tuesday. The Election Commission made an announcement of the elections for the 16th vice president of India to take place on August 6, 2022.

The ECI has also issued directions for Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to be the Returning Officer for the polls. The nomination papers for the above election can be submitted starting Saturday up to July 19, 2022. The scrutiny for the nominations will take place on July 20 and the final list will be published on July 22.

As in the case of the election to the President of India, the eligible candidates will need to submit a few documents including a certified copy of the electoral roll with the name mentioned on it and an amount of Rs 15,000 at the time of submitting the nomination papers which shall be returned after the election process is over in case the candidate does not make it to the final list.

In case of the election of the Vice President of India, voting will happen in the Parliament and members of the Rajya Sabha will participate in this election as the vice president is also the de facto chairman of the upper house.

The poll for the upcoming vice president's election is slated to take place between 10 AM and 5 PM on August 6, 2022, and the results are expected to be out on the same day.

In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India's 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022.