NDA names Bengal guv Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice Presidential candidate

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has selected West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the post of vice president of India, BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda announced on Saturday.

The 71-year-old  was appointed as governor by President Ram Nath Kovind on July 30, 2019.

BJP parliamentary board meeting was underway earlier in evening to pick the party's candidate for the vice presidential poll.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, besides BJP chief JP Nadda were among those attending the meeting.

Lauding the governor, PM Modi said Dhankhar always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised.

In a series of tweets, he said, "Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji is known for his humility. He brings with him an illustrious legal, legislative and gubernatorial career. He has always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised. Glad that he will be our VP candidate."

Dhankhar has excellent knowledge of our Constitution and he is also well-versed with legislative affairs, the PM added.

"I am sure that he will be an outstanding Chair in the Rajya Sabha and guide the proceedings of the House with the aim of furthering national progress," he said.

Prior to his present role as the governor, Dhankhar has been a noted lawyer and was instrumental in getting OBC status for Jats in Rajasthan.

He also used to walk 4-5 kms to a government school when he was in class 6, has been a cricketer and also a keen student of spirituality and meditation, according to various official accounts.

His nomination means that the presiding officers of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will be from Rajasthan, among the only two states currently ruled by governments, which incidently goes to polls next year.

Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, he completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh.

After finishing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan and has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

After being elected as MP from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, he served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district.

In 2017, the party had named the then Cabinet minister M Venkaiah Naidu, a former BJP president and veteran parliamentarian, as its vice president candidate.

Naidu had won the election comfortably to occupy the second highest constitutional post of the country. Naidu's current term ends on August 10.