Jagdeep Dhankhar defeats Margaret Alva, elected Vice President of India
The 71-year-old leader, who has been described by the Bharatiya Janata Party as a “kisaan putra”, is likely to take oath on August 11.
Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Saturday elected as the 14th Vice President of India after he defeated the Opposition’s candidate Margaret Alva by 346 votes.
The 71-year-old leader, who has been described by the Bharatiya Janata Party as a “kisaan putra”, is likely to take oath on August 11. The Jat leader, who has had several run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal, will preside over the Rajya Sabha as its chairman in the winter session of Parliament.
Lok Sabha secretary general Utpal Kumar Singh, the presiding officer for the vice presidential election, said that out of 780 eligible voters, 725 cast their ballot and Dhankhar polled 528 or 72.8% votes, while Alva got 182 (25.1%) votes. There were 50 absentees and 15 votes were found invalid, he said.
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“Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji on being elected India’s Vice President with resounding support across party lines. I am confident he will be an outstanding Vice President. Our nation will gain tremendously from his intellect and wisdom,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after the results of the election were declared. The Prime Minister met Dhankhar at the residence of parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and greeted him with a bouquet.
At least 34 MPs of the Trinamool Congress did not vote as per the party’s announcement earlier, but two rebels TMC MPs, Sisir and Dibyendu Adhikari, are believed to have participated in the election.
In the vice presidential election, the ruling dispensation secured a higher share of votes compared to the presidential election last month. President Droupadi Murmu had got 64.03% votes, while her opponent Yashwant Sinha bagged 35.97% votes.
Dhankhar will take charge of a Rajya Sabha where political battlelines are clearly drawn out between the ruling dispensation and the Opposition, often leading to prolonged protests and disruptions. The ongoing monsoon session has seen limited work and a marathon protest over price rise.
Dhankhar, who has had a turbulent working equation with chief minister Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991 as a representative of the Janata Dal. He served as a central minister, holding the portfolio of parliamentary affairs. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan assembly from the Kishanganj constituency.
Union home minister Amit Shah, who met Dhankhar, tweeted: “I am sure that as Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha @jdhankhar1ji will prove to be an ideal guardian of the Constitution. I congratulate him on this victory. Also, under the leadership of Modi ji, I express my gratitude to NDA allies, other parties and members of parliament for supporting Dhankhar ji.”
After the poll result was announced, Alva congratulated Dhankhar but remained critical of the TMC’s decision to not vote. “This election was an opportunity for the Opposition to work together, to leave the past behind and build trust amongst each other. Unfortunately, some opposition parties chose to directly or indirectly support the BJP, in an attempt to derail the idea of a united opposition. It is my belief that by doing so, these parties and their leaders have damaged their own credibility,” she said in a statement.
“This election is over,” she said. “The battle for protecting our Constitution, strengthening our democracy and restoring the dignity of Parliament, will continue,” Alva added.
With eight vacancies in the Rajya Sabha — four from Jammu and Kashmir, three nominated and one from Tripura — the electoral college consisted of 543 members in the Lok Sabha and 237 in the Rajya Sabha.
Apart from its allies and friendly parties such as the Biju Janata Dal and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party also got support from the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party. A large part of the Shiv Sena, too, supported Dhankhar.
The absentees included seven Shiv Sena MPs, two lawmakers each from the BJP, BSP and SP, one MP each from the AAP and Congress and an Independent MP, apart from 31 Trinamool lawmakers. Notable absentees were the SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and the BJP’s Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dhotre.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also met Dhankhar. He later said: “His long public life was devoted to the welfare of the common man. It’s an inspirational journey of farmer-son of Rajasthan’s small village Kithana to the post of Vice President.”
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also congratulated Dhankhar. “Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar ji on being elected as the 14th Vice-President of India. Thank you to Smt Margaret Alva ji for representing the spirit of the joint Opposition with grace and dignity,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
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