West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate for the Vice Presidential election scheduled on August 6.
The announcement was made Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief by JP Nadda after the name was picked during the party's parliamentary board meeting held here on July 16 evening.
"After all considerations and consultations, we have decided to announce kisan putra (farmer's son) Jagdeep Dhankhar as the BJP and NDA's candidate for Vice President," Nadda said at a press conference, adding that Dhankhar established himself as a "people's Governor".
Soon after the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and praised Dhankar for having 'excellent knowledge' about the Constitution.
Dhankhar, 71, has been in public life for more than three decades. He called ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day.
Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, Dhankhar worked to become a successful professional before entering public life. He completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh.
After finishing his graduation in Physics, Dhankhar pursued a degree in law from the University of Rajasthan and went on to become one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan. He has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
Dhankhar entered public life for the first time after being elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) 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.
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In July 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal, where he has been often involved in war of words with Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee.
Prime Minister Modi and other senior leaders of the party attended the meeting that picked his name. The announcement comes days ahead of July 18 Presidential Election in which the BJP-led NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu has a clear advantage over the Opposition's Yashwant Sinha.
In 2017, the party had named the then Cabinet Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, a former BJP president, and veteran parliamentarian, as its vice presidential candidate, after surprising everyone by picking the then Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, for the presidential contest. Both Kovind and Naidu had won the polls comfortably to occupy the two highest constitutional posts of the country.
The BJP is again in a strong position to ensure the win of its candidates.
The Vice President is elected by an electoral college which comprises members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Out of Parliament's current strength of 780, the BJP alone has 394 MPs, more than the majority mark of 390. The term of Naidu, the present incumbent, ends on August 10.
(With PTI inputs)
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