Prime Minister Narendra Modi Vice-President designate Jagdeep Dhankar react during a meeting, in New Delhi, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. BJP National President JP Nadda is also seen. (PTI Photo)Vice Presidential Election 2022 Polling Live Updates: Soon after NDA candidate was declared winner in the presidential polls on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the former West Bengal Governor to congratulate him on his new position. Dhankhar, who clinched 528 votes, defeated Opposition nominee Margaret Alva, who bagged 182 votes, to become the 14th Vice-President of India. As many as 15 votes were found to be invalid. As the term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10, members of both Houses of Parliament throughout the day voted to elect the next Vice-President who will take oath of office on August 11.
With support from regional parties like the Janata Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena, Dhankhar from the very start was up for an easy win. Even as Alva got the backing of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), she failed to garner the support of Trinamool Congress (TMC), the second largest Opposition party after the Congress in Parliament with 39 MPs in both the Houses. The TMC had decided to abstain from voting alleging lack of consultation with them on Alva’s candidature.
While the 71-year-old Dhankhar is a Jat leader from Rajasthan with a socialist background, 80-year-old Alva is a Congress veteran and has served as governor of Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.
NDA’s candidate for Vice President’s post Jagdeep Dhankhar, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
Soon after NDA candidate was declared winner in the presidential polls on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the former West Bengal Governor to congratulate him on his new position. Dhankhar, who clinched 528 votes, defeated Opposition nominee Margaret Alva, who bagged 182 votes, to become the 14th Vice-President of India. As many as 15 votes were found to be invalid. As the term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10, members of both Houses of Parliament throughout the day voted to elect the next Vice-President who will take oath of office on August 11.
President Droupadi Murmu congratulates Jagdeep Dhankhar on his win. "Congratulations to Jagdeep Dhankhar on being elected the Vice President of India. The nation will benefit from your long and rich experience of public life. My best wishes for a productive and successful tenure," she wrote on Twitter.
"Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar on winning the Vice Presidential elections. His long public life, wide experience and deep understanding of people’s issues will certainly benefit the nation. I am confident that he will make an exceptional VP & Rajya Sabha Chairman," Union Minister Rajnath Singh wrote on Twitter.
Opposition candidate Margaret Alva said the V-P election was an opportunity for the opposition to leave the past behind, to work together, and build trust amongst each other. However, some opposition parties chose to directly or indirectly support the BJP, she rued. "Unfortunately, some opposition parties chose to directly or indirectly support the BJP, in an attempt to derail the idea of a united opposition. It is my belief that by doing so, these parties and their leaders have damaged their own credibility."
Opposition V-P candidate Margaret Alva congratulates Jagdeep Dhankhar on his win.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Jagdeep Dhankhar to congratulate him on his election to the post of Vice President of the country.
Moments after Jagdeep Dhankhar was declared winner in the Vice-Presidential polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated him on his new innings. "I am sure that as Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha @jdhankhar1 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 the NDA allies, other parties and members of parliament for supporting Dhankhar ji," Shah wrote on Twitter.
The BJP-led NDA candidate and former West Bengal Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, 71, was elected as the 16th Vice-President of India on Saturday, trouncing the Opposition nominee Margaret Alva comfortably by securing 528 votes against the latter’s 182 in the poll.
Since July 2019, when he was appointed by the BJP-ruled Centre as the Bengal Governor, Dhankhar had been at loggerheads with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government on a range of issues.
For a leader known more for his run-ins with the Banerjee government as the Governor, and whom the TMC had often accused of acting as an “agent of BJP”, the first election Dhankhar contested was on a Janata Dal ticket, when he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu in 1989. Read more about India's new Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar
More from India
Former Governor of West Bengal and NDA’s pick Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday defeated Opposition nominee Margaret Alva to become the 14th Vice-President of India. As the term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10, members of both Houses of Parliament throughout the day voted to elect the next Vice-President. Dhankhar clinched 528 votes, while Alva got 182. The new Vice-President will take oath of office on August 11.
As the term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10, members of both Houses of Parliament on Saturday voted to elect the next Vice-President of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress MP Manmohan Singh were seen casting their vote at the Parliament House on Saturday. The counting of votes has begun.
BJP MPs Jyotiraditya Scindia, Poonam Mahajan while casting their votes in Parliament today. (Photos: PTI)
Voting to elect India’s next V-P concluded at 5 pm. Counting of votes will begin shortly
BJP MP Hema Malini casts her vote for the election of the Vice President, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Saturday. (PTI Photo)
Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Anurag Thakur during voting for the election of the Vice President, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Saturday. (PTI Photo)
As the term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10, members of both Houses of Parliament are voting to elect the next Vice-President of India on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress MP Manmohan Singh and other MPs were seen casting their vote at the Parliament House on Saturday. See pictures here
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla arrived at the Parliament House in Delhi on Saturday to cast his vote for the Vice-Presidential elections which sees the contest between NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar and Opposition's Margaret Alva.
Congress MPs including Shashi Tharoor, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge cast their vote in the on-going vice-presidential elections. The voting began at 10 am and is likely to complete at 5 pm after which counting of votes begin.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrived at the Parliament House on Saturday to cast his vote for the ongoing V-P polls. Take a look: