New Delhi, Aug 06, 2022, By Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug 6 : National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate and former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected the 14th Vice-President of India on Saturday after winning by an overwhelming majority.
Dhankhar was in the fray against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva.
“NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar won by 346 votes as he bagged 528 of the total 725 votes that were cast. While 15 were termed invalid, Opposition candidate Margret Alva received 182 votes in the election," Lok Sabha General-Secretary Utpal K Singh, who was the returning officer for the poll said, announcing the results of the 16th Vice-Presidential election.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has 39 MPs, including 23 in Lok Sabha, had announced its decision to abstain from the vice presidential election. However, two of its MPs -- Sisir Kumar Adhikari and Dibyendu Adhikari -- broke ranks and cast their ballots.
Dhankar will be administered the oath to office on August 11.
Around 93 per cent polling was recorded in the vice-presidential election on as more than 50 MPs did not exercise their franchise.
According to reports, out of a total of 780 MPs, as many as 725 MPs voted till 5 pm when the polling concluded.
The polling to elect the next Vice President of India began at 10 am with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being among the first to vote and ended at 5 pm.
Dhankhar won the vice presidential election by defeating his rival and joint Opposition candidate.
The 71-year-old former West Bengal governor received 528 out of 725 valid votes in his favour. The 80-year-old Alva secured 182 votes.
Prime Minister Modi met Dhankhar to congratulate him on his election as the Vice President of India. BJP chief JP Nadda also arrived at the residence Dhankhar in Delhi after his win. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to social media and congratulated Dhankhar on being elected as the next Vice President of India.
Wishes poured in from various quarters after the election result was announced with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Alva congratulating Dhankhar.
The nation will benefit from Dhankhar's long and rich experience in public life, the president tweeted.
Once a "reluctant politician", Dhankhar's re-emergence in the political scene in 2019 as West Bengal governor surprised many, so has his rise to the office of the Vice President of India.
A man of many interests, his long legal career at the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court and a brief stint as the junior parliamentary affairs minister at the Centre will come in handy as he presides over the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman.
Dhankhar, who had been associated with the Janata Dal and the Congress, joined the BJP only in 2008 after a hiatus of nearly a decade. He has championed issues related to Other Backward Classes, including the grant of OBC status to the Jat community in Rajasthan.
While his surprise appointment as the West Bengal governor in 2019 brought him back to the political limelight, he did not shy away from the hurly-burly of politics and was caught in frequent run-ins with the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.