The ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament was largely devoted to the election of the next President and the Vice-President, but it also saw the suspension of a record number of MPs over protests and waving of placards. This signalled a vastly deteriorated relationship, and as the newly elected presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha, or the Upper House, the handling of this relationship would be the biggest challenge facing Vice-President-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The choice of Mr. Dhankhar as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance was said to be made on the basis of his political career, his education and work as a lawyer, and the fact that he was born and raised in an agrarian family in rural Rajasthan.
It is perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message to Mr. Dhankhar, laying stress on him being “well versed in legislative affairs”, which gives the biggest clue on why the choice devolved on him.
