West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar is NDA's candidate for vice-president

The BJP parliamentary board on Saturday decided on West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar as its vice-presidential candidate. The announcement was made by BJP chief JP Nadda following the party’s parliamentary board meeting held in Delhi.

BJP said that Dhankar – born in 1951 — has been in public life for more than three decades and that he is a “Kisan Putra (son of a farmer) whose life story reflects the spirit of new India – overcoming innumerable social and economic hurdles and achieving one’s goals.”

He completed his LLB from University of Rajasthan and was the “youngest president of Rajasthan High Court Bar Association”. He was one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan and practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court.

Dhankhar, a Jat leader from Rajasthan, entered politics in 1989 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu. He was an MP during 1989–91 in the ninth Lok Sabha, representing Janata Dal. He was the minister of state for parliamentary affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan assembly from Kishangarh.

He was named West Bengal governor on July 30, 2019. Since taking office, there has been a running feud between him and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The voting to elect India’s 16th vice-president will be held on August 6 as the tenure of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10. The results will be announced the same day (August 6), while the new V-P will be sworn in on August 11. The last day to file nominations is July 19.