National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday emerged victorious against Opposition's Margaret Alva with over 500 votes in the race for the post of Vice President.
Nearly 93 per cent of the members of Parliament cast their ballots. As many as 725 MPs voted in the election, polling for which started at 10 AM and ended at 5 PM.
All members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, including nominated ones, are eligible to vote in the vice presidential election.
Here's what you need to know about Jagdeep Dhankhar:
Dhankhar was born on May 18, 1951, in Kithana, a small village in the Rajasthan. He is married to Sudesh Dhankhar and they have a daughter.
Education:
Dhankhar graduated with honours in physics from Maharaja's College in Jaipur and an LLB degree from Jaipur University in 1978-79.
Before that he had schooled at Sainik School, Chittorgarh on a full merit scholarship after his primary education from the government school at village Kithana in Jhunjhunu.
Career:
A lawyer by profession, Dhankhar forayed into politics in 1989 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan that same year and became a Union Minister in 1990.
Dhankar, who practised in Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, was designated a senior advocate in 1990, the same year he became a Union minister.
He was also a member of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha from 1993 to 1998 representing Kishangarh constituency.
The lawyer-turned politician was appointed the Governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has since had a tumultuous relationship with the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.
Jagdeep Dhankar vs Bengal govt:
The TMC leadership has often accused him of acting as an "agent of the BJP", while the saffron party in the state looked upon him as an "upholder of constitutional norms".
On his part, Dhankar has claimed he has gone by the rule book and the Constitution in pointing out issues to the Mamata Banerjee government and the state legislature.
Acrimony between Dhankhar and the ruling party and its leader often led to messy situations with both levelling accusations at each other over issues ranging from post-poll violence in the state to delays in assent to bills passed in the House besides interference in the functioning of the civilian bureaucracy and state run universities.
