Vice President poll: Jagdeep Dhankhar scores mega win, huge setback to 'Opposition unity'

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was elected as the 14th Vice President of India.

Vijayan expressed hope that Dhankhar will guide the country forward by strengthening the values enshrined in the Constitution.

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

"Congratulations to @jdhankhar1 on being elected as the Vice President of India. Hope he can guide our country forward by strengthening the values enshrined in the Constitution," Vijayan tweeted.
 

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.
 

After having faced a defeat in the Vice Presidential elections at the hands of NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Opposition candidate Margaret Alva reacted on Saturday. Taking to Twitter, the former Union Minister and ex-Governor of Rajasthan, Goa and Gujarat, congratulated the former West Bengal Governor on being elected as the 14th Vice President of India. 

"This election was an opportunity for the opposition to work together, to leave the past behind & 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," said Alva in the tweet, purportedly attacking Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. Read Full Story.

Jagdeep Dhankhar is the second leader from Rajasthan after Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to get elected the vice-president of India.

With the election of Dhankhar, a Jat leader who belongs to Jhunjhunu district, now both the lower and upper houses of Parliament will be presided over by leaders from Rajasthan.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is also from Rajasthan. He represents Kota-Bundi parliamentary constituency of the state.

Senior BJP leaders, including Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar after his massive victory in the Vice Presidential elections.

After congratulating Vice President-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that Dhankhar will be a wonderful chairman and outstanding Vice President.

"The nation is blessed to have the son of a farmer and an eminent jurist as VP of India. We are fortunate we will have a chance to work with him," he added.

BJP leaders including BJP National President JP Nadda, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi among others, meet with Vice President-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar at his residence in Delhi.

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Saturday met and congratulated Vice President-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar.

"Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar ji's election as the Vice President of India is a matter of joy for the whole country. Dhankhar ji has been continuously associated with the public in his long public life. The Upper House will definitely benefit from a close understanding of the ground issues and their experience," Union Home Minster Amit Shah said.

He added, "I am sure that as Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji 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."

Outgoing Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has extended the heartiest congratulations to Jagdeep Dhankhar on winning the Vice Presidential elections.

"The nation will greatly benefit from your vast experience and legal expertise. My best wishes for a successful and fruitful tenure," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met Vice President-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar and congratulated him on a massive victory.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar for winning the Vice Presidential elections. He said that Dhankhar's long public life, wide experience and deep understanding of people’s issues will certainly benefit the nation.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda has reached Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi's residence to meet and congratulate Jagdeep Dhankhar for winning the Vice Presidential elections.

"I declare Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has been duly elected to the office of the Vice President of India," Lok Sabha Secretary General Returning Officer of VP Elections Utpal K Singh said.

NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar 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 said.

Celebrations at Jagdeep Dhankhar's village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu as he becomes 14th Vice President of India.

NDA's candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday, August 6, won the vice presidential elections and has been elected as the 14th Vice President of India. He defeated Opposition candidate Margaret Alva. 

Dhankhar secured 528 votes while Alva received 182 votes. 15 votes were declared invalid.

The next vice president of India will take oath on August 11. Outgoing vice president M Venkaiah Naidu's term ends on August 10.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet National Democratic Alliance's vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar shortly. The meeting will take place at Prahlad Joshi's residence, according to sources.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet NDA's vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar between 8 pm and 8.30 pm. The meet is expected to be held at Prahlad Joshi's residence, according to sources.

NDA's vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar reached Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi's residence at 11 Akbar road before the announcement of the results for the Vice Presidential elections. PM Narendra Modi is expected to meet him at around 8 pm.

The result of the Vice Presidential election will be declared soon. Celebrations have already started outside Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi's residence as also the village of Jagdeep Dhankhar in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu.

Celebrations at Jagdeep Dhankhar's village at Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu before the announcement of the Vice Presidential election results.

The counting of votes begins in the Vice Presidential election. With the ruling BJP having an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and 91 members in the Rajya Sabha, NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar has a clear edge over his rival. He is likely to succeed incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu, whose tenure ends on August 10.
 

Around 93 percent polling was recorded in the vice presidential election on Saturday, with more than 50 MPs not exercising their franchise.

Officials said of the total 780 MPs, as many as 725 MPs voted till 5 pm when the polling concluded.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh cast their ballots early in the day, while opposition leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi voted a little after noon, the officials said.

Voting for the Vice President post stands over in Parliament. The results of the same will be declared today. NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar is pitted against Opposition's Margaret Alva.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said his party has supported NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar in the polling to elect the next Vice President of India. Dhankhar is pitted against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva.

In a tweet, Badal said, "Shiromani Akali Dal supports a peasant's son, crusader for farmers' rights and the man who secured OBC status for the farming community (Jats) in his state, Sh Jagdeep Dhankhar for the Vice Presidency."        

The polling in the Vice Presidential election will conclude soon. Till 2 pm, over 85 percent of votes were polled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh casting their ballots early in the day, officials said.

Of the 780 MPs in both Houses -- another eight Rajya Sabha seats are vacant -- around 670 of them had cast their vote so far, they said.
 

Over 85 per cent votes were polled in the Vice Presidential election till 2 PM, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh casting their ballots early in the day, officials said.

Of the 780 MPs in both Houses -- another eight Rajya Sabha seats are vacant -- around 670 of them had cast their vote so far, they said.
 

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi exuded confidence that NDA's vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar will win the election against Margaret Alva with a record margin. 

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election, at the Parliament, in Delhi.

Former Congress president and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election, at the Parliament.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cast her vote for the Vice Presidential election, at the Parliament.

Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Narayan Rane and Sarbananda Sonowal cast their votes for the Vice Presidential election, at the Parliament in Delhi.

Opposition's Vice Presidential candidate Margaret Alva holds a conversation with Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal at the Parliament. Voting for the VP election is underway.

AAP MPs Harbhajan Singh and Sanjay Singh, DMK MP Kanimozhi and BJP MP Ravi Kishan cast their votes for the Vice Presidential election.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and other party MPs arrived at the Parliament to cast their vote in the Vice Presidential election.

Opposition's Vice Presidential candidate Margaret Alva arrives at the Parliament. Voting is underway for the Vice Presidential polls today.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election.

Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajnath Singh and Piyush Goyal and BJP chief JP Nadda voted in the Vice Presidential election.

Former Prime Minister and Congress MP Dr. Manmohan Singh arrived at the Parliament to cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached the Parliament and cast his vote for the Vice Presidential elections.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and DMK MPs Dayanidhi Maran and Tiruchi Siva cast their votes for the Vice Presidential election.

Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajeev Chandrasekhar cast their votes for the Vice Presidential election, at the Parliament.

TMC MP and Parliamentary Party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay wrote to Sisir Adhikari, who is still an MP from TMC, informing him to abstain from voting for the Vice President election as decided and announced by the party.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Arjun Ram Meghwal cast their vote in the Vice President election. 

PM Modi cast his vote in the Vice Presidential election. Jagdeep Dhankhar and Margaret Alva are in the fray.

The voting for the Vice President election commenced in Parliament.

Ahead of the commencement of voting for the Vice Presidential election, PM Modi reached the Parliament. 

On the voting day, opposition candidate Margaret Alva said, "MPs fight great electoral battles to gain entry to the Temple of Democracy - our Parliament. Each of them is a hero, worthy of our respect. Each a unique voice, that deserves to be heard. I believe when these powerful voices are given expression, great things can be achieved."

During the election campaign, Margaret Alva seemingly fell prey to cyber fraud. On July 25, she addressed government-owned telecommunication companies MTNL and BSNL and complained that she was unable to make or receive calls after speaking to some BJP leaders about her candidature. She also attached a photo that contained a purported communication from an MTNL with the message that the user's SIM card will be blocked within 24 hours after the e-KYC was suspended.

Taking a dig at the Centre, she tweeted, "If you restore the phone, I promise not to call any MP from the BJP, TMC, or BJD tonight". However, on July 19 itself, the Delhi Police warned customers of a cyber fraud carried out in the name of MTNL. It revealed that miscreants send WhatsApp messages such as "Dear customer, your MTNL Sim Card Aadhaar e-KYC has been suspended. Your SIM card will be blocked within 24 hours. Call immediately" to retrieve confidential information of the customers. This message is almost identical to the one tweeted by Alva a day earlier indicating that she has been duped. 

After TMC decided to abstain from voting in the upcoming Vice President election, Congress and the Left hit out at the party's stance. Dubbing it the "height of hypocrisy", CPI(M) contended on Twitter that abstention was equivalent to supporting BJP. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury opined that Banerjee had run away after seeking to spearhead the opposition in the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Speaking to the media, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha observed, "WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is VP candidate, he has often confronted Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. He met CM Banerjee and Assam CM HB Sarma in Darjeeling. The next day, he was announced as VP candidate, which means there was a Darjeeling pact among them".He added, "They had an understanding among themselves. CM Mamata Banerjee didn't help Yashwant Sinha. She doesn't want to have any confrontation with the BJP". 

Since taking over as the Governor of West Bengal in July 2019, Jagdeep Dhankhar was at loggerheads with the Mamata Banerjee-led government. While the Governor has stressed that he is exercising his constitutional duties, TMC has accused him of interference and sought his ouster on multiple occasions. On January 7, the WB CM created a stir by telling PM Modi about Dhankhar raising objections over some recruitments. She spoke about this at the inauguration ceremony of the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute which was attended by the PM virtually.

According to her, the WB Governor was unaware that the state government had opted for later entry into the bureaucracy on the advice of PM Modi. Objecting to this statement, Dhankar asserted that it was not only factually wrong but also constituted an act of "impropriety" on Banerjee's part. On the first day of the Budget session in March, Dhankhar was unable to give his inaugural address to the Assembly as BJP MLAs carrying posters and photographs of alleged victims of civic poll violence came to the well to stage a protest.

As the legislators of the JP Nadda-led party refused to let the proceedings begin, he attempted to leave the Assembly even as ruling party MLAs including Mamata Banerjee appealed to him to deliver his address. The Governor alleged that women Ministers and MLAs trooped on both sides of his seat disregarding decorum and propriety. In June, a fresh controversy erupted as the WB Assembly passed bills removing the Governor as the Chancellor of state-run universities and the 'Visitor' of private universities. 

In an appeal to all MPs on Thursday, Margaret Alva said, "I have worked for over 50 years as Members of both Houses of Parliament, as a Union Minister and as a Governor. The Vice President's election is not just any other election. It must be seen as a referendum on the manner in which Parliament is being run. Today, Parliament is virtually at a standstill with communication between members non-existing. This diminishes Parliament in the eyes of the people." 

"The makers of the Constitution ensured that there would no whip for this election and that it would be a secret ballot. This gives MPs an opportunity to choose the best candidate available without pressure from their political parties- a candidate who has experience and who will work impartially from the Chair. I believe I am that candidate. I appeal to each Member of Parliament to vote for me in the election on the 6th of August without any fear. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. With your support, if elected Vice President, I commit myself to forge consensus on issues of national importance," she added. 

As the term of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is ending on August 10, an election to fill this impending vacancy will be held today. The President will be elected by the Electoral College comprising 788 members- 233 elected Rajya Sabha MPs, 12 nominated MPs of the Upper House and 543 elected MPs. While speculation was rife that Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi whose Rajya Sabha term ended earlier this month would be nominated as the NDA's candidate for the Vice President election, the ruling coalition reposed faith in former Union Minister and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. On the other hand, opposition parties barring TMC announced Margaret Alva as its candidate. 

Today's Vice Presidential Election will be the sixteenth of such elections for that office. The earlier elections to this office were held in 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. A number of Vice Presidents have been elected unopposed- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1957, 1962), Mohammad Hidayatullah (1979) and Shankar Dayal Sharma (1987). In the 2017 election, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu won 516 votes as against 244 votes secured by the joint opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. 

Any doubt or dispute relating to a Vice-Presidential election can be raised only by means of an election petition after the election is over. The authority having jurisdiction to try such election petition, is the Supreme Court of India. An election petition calling in question an election to the office of Vice-President may be presented by any candidate at such election or by any ten or more electors joined together as petitioners. An election petition may be presented within 30 days from the date of publication of the declaration containing the name of the returned candidate.

While polling will be held from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, the ballots will be counted immediately after that. By late Saturday evening, the returning officer will announce the name of the next vice president. The new Vice President will take oath on August 11. 

 As per Article 66(1) of the Constitution, this election will be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot. The elector has to mark preferences against the names of candidates. While the marking of the first preference is compulsory for the ballot paper to be valid, other preferences are optional. Voting by any other pen other than the one supplied by the EC shall lead to the invalidation of the vote at the time of counting. 

Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh will be the Returning Officer for this election. There is no concept of open voting in this election and showing the ballot to anyone under any circumstances in the case of presidential and vice-presidential elections is totally prohibited, the EC has cautioned, adding that parties cannot issue a whip to its MPs in the matter of voting. Unlike the presidential poll where voting takes place in multiple locations as elected MLAs, not nominated, also form part of the electoral college, in the vice presidential election, voting will take place in Room no.63, 1st floor, Parliament House. 

Born on 14 April 1942, Margaret Alva comes from a family of politicians including her father-in-law, Joachim Alva, who along with his wife Violet Alva were Members of Parliament representing the Indian National Congress. Between 1975-77, she served as Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and then as General Secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee between 1978 and 1980. In April 1974, Alva was also elected to the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket and served a six-year term following which she was re-elected for a further three six-year terms, in 1980, 1986 and 1992.

Notably, she served as the vice-chairman (1983–85) in the Rajya Sabha and as Union Minister of State in the ministries for Parliamentary Affairs (1984–85) and for Youth and Sports and Women and Child Development, an arm of the then-Ministry of Human Resource Development. Alva was also briefly Minister for Science and Technology. In 1999, she was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament for the Uttara Kannada constituency, serving a five-year term. However, she lost the subsequent re-election attempt in 2004.

Between 2004-09, she served as General Secretary of the AICC. In a brief snag with the Congress, Alva resigned in November 2008 after claiming that the party's seats in Karnataka were open to 'bidders' rather than subject to meritocratic appointment, however, she subsequently patched up her differences with leadership. In 2009, she became the first female Governor of Uttarakhand and remained in the post until May 2012, at which time she was appointed Governor of Rajasthan.

Born on May 18, 1951, Dhankar is a former Lok Sabha member (from 1989 to 1991) and is currently serving as the Governor of West Bengal. He hails from a small village in Rajasthan's Kithana in the Jhunjhunu district and completed his school at Sainik School in Chittorgarh. In the following years, he was admitted to Maharaja’s College at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur and graduated with B.Sc in Physics and later took up an LLB course in 1978 at the University of Rajasthan and completed his education in the year 1979.

Dhankar was later enrolled in the Bar Council of Rajasthan as an advocate on November 10 of the same year.  A former advocate of the Supreme Court of India, he has also served as the President of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association in 1987, the youngest in that position. The WB Governor entered politics after becoming a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Lok Sabha constituency Jhunjhunu in 1989 and a Union Minister in 1990 while representing the Janata Dal at the time.

Currently a BJP member, he has been associated with the saffron party since 2003. Later in 1993, he was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Rajasthan's Kishangarh in Ajmer district and served in the post for five years till 1998. Dhankhar was appointed as the West Bengal Governor by the incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind on July 30, 2019.