VP elect Jagdeep Dhankhar’s journey from a Rajasthan village to Vice President House

India

oi-Prakash KL

New
Delhi,
Aug
06:
The
BJP-led
National
Democratic
Alliance(NDA)
candidate
Jagdeep
Dhankhar
was
elected
as
the
country’s
14th
Vice
President
on
Saturday
in
a
victory
that
was
a
foregone
conclusion
as
he
trounced
the
Opposition’s
candidate
Margaret
Alva
by
a
huge
margin.

Dhankhar,
a
former
governor
of
West
Bengal
who
will
also
preside
over
the
Rajya
Sabha
which
has
been
witnessing
opposition
protests
over
a
range
of
issues,
secured
528
votes
against
Alva’s
182.
His
victory
margin
was
the
highest
since
1997.

Who is Jagdeep Dhankhar?
Once
a
“reluctant
politician”,
Jagdeep
Dhankhar’s
reemergence
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.

Dhankhar,
71,
was
declared
elected
as
the
Vice
President
on
Saturday
after
he
bagged
528
votes
against
his
rival
candidate
Margaret
Alva’s
182.

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.

The
BJP
described
Dhankhar
as
“kisan
putra”
while
announcing
his
candidature
for
the
vice
presidential
election,
a
move
seen
in
the
political
circles
aimed
at
reaching
out
to
the
politically
significant
Jat
community
which
had
participated
in
huge
numbers
in
the
year-long
farmers’ protests
on
the
borders
of
the
national
capital
against
agriculture
reform
measures
unveiled
in
June
2020.

Prior
to
his
appointment
as
the
West
Bengal
Governor
in
2019,
Dhankar
was
an
unfamiliar
name
in
the
political
circles,
particularly
so
as
the
last
public
office
he
held
was
as
the
Member
of
Rajasthan
Assembly
from
1993-98
from
the
Congress
party.
Dhankhar,
who
took
to
cricket
in
his
school
days
and
also
had
keen
interest
in
spirituality
and
meditation,
began
his
political
journey
with
the
Janata
Dal
and
won
the
Lok
Sabha
elections
in
1989,
held
under
the
shadow
of
the
Bofors
scandal,
from
Jhunjhunu
in
Rajasthan.

He
had
a
brief
stint
as
Minister
of
State
for
Parliamentary
Affairs
under
Prime
Minister
Chandra
Shekhar.
Last
month,
the
Rashtriya
Swayamsevak
Sangh
(RSS),
the
ideological
mentor
of
the
ruling
BJP,
held
its
three-day
annual
meeting
in
Jhunjhunu.
In
his
initial
journey
as
a
politician,
Dhankhar
was
influenced
by
Devi
Lal
and
later
shifted
to
the
Congress
during
the
tenure
of
Prime
Minister
P
V
Narasimha
Rao.

After
hanging
his
boots
as
an
MLA,
Dhankhar
focused
on
legal
career,
practising
as
a
lawyer
in
the
Supreme
Court.
He
also
had
a
three-year
stint
as
a
member
of
the
International
Court
of
Arbitration
in
Paris.
BJP
president
J
P
Nadda
described
Dhankhar
as
a
first-generation
lawyer
“fully
equipped
in
administrative
capacity”.
Dhankhar
is
also
known
to
have
warm
ties
with
leaders
across
party
lines,
a
quality
that
would
come
handy
as
he
presides
over
the
Rajya
Sabha.
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
had
said
Dhankhar
had
excellent
knowledge
of
the
Constitution
and
was
well-versed
with
legislative
affairs.

“I
am
sure
that
he
will
be
an
outstanding
Chair
in
the
Rajya
Sabha
&
guide
the
proceedings
of
the
House
with
the
aim
of
furthering
national
progress,” the
prime
minister
said
on
July
16.
His
election
as
Vice
President
will
also
mean
that
the
presiding
officers
of
both
Lok
Sabha
and
Rajya
Sabha
will
be
from
Rajasthan,
among
the
only
two
states
currently
ruled
by
Congress
governments,
which
incidentally
goes
to
polls
next
year.

Nadda
said
Dhankhar’s
life
story
reflects
the
spirit
of
new
India
—
that
is
overcoming
innumerable
social
and
economic
hurdles
and
achieving
one’s
goals.
Dhankhar
was
born
on
May
18
May
1951
in
Kithana
village
in
Jhunjhunu
district,
Rajasthan.
He
did
his
primary
schooling
in
his
village
Kithana
and
later
joined
the
Sainik
School,
Chittorgarh,
on
a
full
scholarship.
After
graduating
from
Sainik
School,
he
joined
the
Maharaja’s
College,
Jaipur
in
the
B.Sc
(Honours)
Physics
course,
according
to
his
biography
on
the
West
Bengal
Raj
Bhavan
website.
He
is
also
known
as
an
avid
reader
and
a
sports
aficionado
and
has
been
the
President
of
the
Rajasthan
Olympic
Association,
and
Rajasthan
Tennis
Association.
He
married
Sudesh
and
they
have
a
daughter.