NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar Wins Vice Presidential Election by 346 Votes

Dhankhar will take oath as vice president on 11 August.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s Jagdeep Dhankhar has emerged victorious in the two-headed Vice Presidential election on Saturday, 6 August, defeating the Opposition candidate Margaret Alva.

(Photo: PTI)

National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s Jagdeep Dhankhar has emerged victorious in the two-headed Vice Presidential election on Saturday, 6 August, defeating the Opposition candidate Margaret Alva.

"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," Utpal Kumar Singh, Lok Sabha Secretary-General, told reporters.

"Out of 780 electors comprising elected and nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and elected members of Lok Sabha, 725 electors cast their votes. The total voter turnout was 92.94 percent," he announced.

Dhankhar will take oath of office on 11 August.

Voting had ended at 5 pm on Saturday, at Parliament House. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and Jitendra Singh, had cast their preferences soon after polling had begun at 10 am.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, MP Shashi Tharoor, Jairam Ramesh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Railways' Ashwini Vaishnaw, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also voted in the poll.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote for the election of the Vice President, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Saturday, 6 August, 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote for the election of the Vice President, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Saturday, 6 August, 2022

Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi cast her vote in Saturday's poll at Parliament House.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah cast his vote for the election of the vice president.

Rajya Sabha MP PT Usha arrives to cast her vote for the election of the Vice President, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Saturday, 6 August, 2022.

Former PM Manmohan Singh casts his vote for the election of the vice president.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP and cricketer Harbhajan Singh cast his vote for vice president.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani voted in the vice presidential poll.

J&K National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah with Opposition candidate Margaret Alva during the election at Parliament House.

DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi casts her vote for the election of the vice president.

Opposition candidate Margaret Alva.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur cast his vote.

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari cast his vote in the VP election.

Lok Janshakti Party MP Chirag Paswan cast his vote for the election of the vice president.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh cast his vote for vice president.

AAP's Raghav Chadha cast his vote in the vice presidential election.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and BJP chief JP Nadda during voting for vice president.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar cast his vote for the next vice president of India.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia cast his vote at the Parliament House.

Ace Lawyer, Jat Leader, Mamata's Nemesis: Jagdeep Dhankhar Had Majority's Support

An ace lawyer and Jat leader, Jagdeep Dhankhar has practised in the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court. In 1989, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu on a Janata Dal ticket, and later joined the Congress.

Dhankhar then joined the BJP in 2003. He was made governor of West Bengal in 2019, where he had frequent run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government.

The vice president-designate had the support of some regional parties like the Janata Dal (United), Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and Shiv Sena, in addition to that of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The NDA nominee was predicted to get over 515 votes, while Alva's vote count was estimated to be around 200. She had the support of the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress abstained from voting.

Like the president of India, the vice president, too, is elected by the Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha – total 788 in number.