Sonia, Rahul congratulate Dhankhar on winning VP election

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar after he was elected the 14th vice president of India, defeating Opposition candidate Margaret Alva.

Dhankhar, 71, will take oath as the next vice president on August 11, a day after incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu's tenure ends.

''Congratulations and best wishes to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar on his being elected Vice President of India,'' Gandhi said in a message.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also congratulated him.

''Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar ji on being elected as the 14th Vice President of India,'' he said on Twitter.

Dhankhar got 528 votes against his rival candidate Alva's 182 in the election held on Saturday.

Rahul Gandhi thanked Alva for representing the spirit of the joint opposition.

''Thank you to Smt Margaret Alva ji for representing the spirit of the joint Opposition with grace and dignity,'' he said. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh while congratulating Dhankhar expressed the hope that he would show the sagacity of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the wit of Venkaiah Naidu as chairman of Rajya Sabha.

He also lauded Alva for running a spirited campaign and said it was ''too bad'' that the TMC did not support her.

''I have known Jagdeep Dhankhar for many years, and last year he presided over an online function on my book on the Buddha. ''I hope he will display the sagacity and objectivity of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the wit and humour of Venkaiah Naidu, his partymen who became VP,'' Ramesh said on Twitter. ''Margaret Alva ran a spirited campaign and it was too bad the TMC didn’t support her. India will have to wait for its first woman Vice President. Incidentally, it was my ministerial duty to accompany Aung San Suu Kyi to meet with her friend Margaret Alva in Bengaluru in Novem