Vice-President Elections | With numbers on his side, BJP’s Jagdeep Dhankhar is comfortably placed to win

Ever since he took over as the West Bengal Governor in July 2019, Dhankhar, 71, has been in the news for his frequent run-ins with Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. (File image: ANI)

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is all set to replace M Venkaiah Naidu as the next Vice President of India as the numbers are heavily stacked in his favour.

Ever since he took over as the West Bengal Governor in July 2019, Dhankhar, 71, has been in the news for his frequent run-ins with Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

Interestingly, Dhankhar, Banerjee, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met at the Raj Bhavan in Darjeeling on July 13, three days before the announcement by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda. What transpired at the meeting has not been made public yet.

Banerjee was keen to see Dhankhar out of West Bengal, and had repeatedly urged President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recall him.

In a tactical move, the BJP has honoured Dhankhar for the services he has rendered by naming him its vice-presidential candidate, and in the process appears to have granted Banerjee’s demand as well. Whether the TMC chief reciprocates the BJP's gesture by supporting Dhankhar will be known on July 21 when she holds discussions with her party colleagues.

That apart, Dhankhar is a Jat from Rajasthan, a state which goes to the polls in November-December 2023.

Jats constitute around 14 percent of the estimated 78 million population of Rajasthan, and are spread over 15 of the 33 districts. They can influence the outcome in 64 of the total 200 constituencies in the state.

Dhankhar is said to have played a key role in getting the Other Backward Classes (OBC) status for Jats in Rajasthan.

This is perhaps the BJP's major outreach to the Jats, who along with the Sikhs, spearheaded the year-long farmers' agitation at Delhi’s borders against the three agricultural laws.

While the Jats of western Uttar Pradesh sought rapprochement with the BJP on the Hindutva issue, and voted for it in the assembly elections, those from Haryana and Rajasthan remained disillusioned with the saffron party.

The BJP leadership is of the view that Dhankhar's elevation could change that equation. That is why the BJP chief while announcing Dhankhar's candidature called him a “kisan putra” (son of a farmer).

Once elected, Dhankhar will be the second Vice-President from Rajasthan after Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

With his election, the presiding officers of both the Houses of Parliament will be from the desert state. While Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is from Kota, Dhankhar belongs to Jhunjhunu.

During his political career spanning over three decades, Dhankhar has been associated with many political parties. Initially, he was associated with one of Haryana's tallest Jat leaders Choudhary Devi Lal. After winning the 1989 Lok Sabha elections from Jhunjhunu, he served as a minister in the VP Singh and Chandrasekhar governments till 1991.

He later joined the Congress and won the 1993 assembly elections from Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district, and remained a legislator till 1998.

With the elevation of Ashok Gehlot as Chief Minister, he left the Congress, and after some time joined the BJP.

Dhankhar’s nomination brings the curtains on the tenure of incumbent Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu. As per an established convention, Naidu is likely to retire from active politics.

Though the BJP is comfortably placed to win the vice-presidential elections, the opposition parties are keen to put up a fight. Hence on August 6, Dhankhar will battle it out against veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva, who has been named as the Opposition's vice-presidential candidate.

Barring the TMC and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which skipped the meeting called by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at his Delhi residence on July 17, 17 opposition parties endorsed Alva’s candidature.

As a coincidence, Alva too has a Rajasthan connection. She was the Rajasthan Governor from May 2012 to August 2014.

The electoral college for electing India's Vice President comprises members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Out of Parliament's current strength of 780, the BJP alone has 394 members, four more than the majority mark of 390.

Though it now appears to be a mere formality, Dhankhar will have to wait till August 6 before being declared India’s 14th Vice-President.

Aurangzeb Naqshbandi is a senior journalist who has been covering the Congress for 15 years, and is currently associated with Pixstory.

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.