Former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected the 14th Vice-President of India. He was elected on August 6, securing 528 votes out of the 710 valid votes, announced Lok Sabha Secretary-General and Returning Officer for election of the Vice-President Utpal Kumar Singh.
Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, who secured 182 votes, conceding her defeat said, though the election is over, “The battle for protecting our Constitution, strengthening our democracy & restoring the dignity of Parliament, will continue.”
Mr. Dhankhar is the second leader from Rajasthan after Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to get elected the Vice-President of India. He will take oath on August 11, a day after incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu (73) demits office.
Congratulating his successor, the Mr. Naidu said, “The nation will greatly benefit from your vast experience and legal expertise.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Vice-President elect along with BJP national president J.P. Nadda. Conveying his congratulations to Mr. Dhankhar, the Prime Minister said, “At a time when India marks Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are proud to be having a Kisan Putra Vice President who has excellent legal knowledge and intellectual prowess,”
Counting of votes had commenced after the election concluded at 5.00 p.m. Out of 780 electors, 725 electors cast their votes, with more than 50 MPs not exercising their franchise.. Of these 725 votes, 710 votes were found valid, and 15 were found invalid.
Polling began at 10.00 a.m. and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh were among the first ones to cast their votes.
The Trinamool Congress, which has 39 MPs, including 23 in Lok Sabha, had already announced its decision to abstain from the election. However, two of its MPs—Sisir Kumar Adhikari and Dibyendu Adhikari—broke ranks and cast their ballots.
While two BJP MPs—Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dhotre—did not vote, among the prominent opposition MPs who were absent during voting included Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shafiqur Rahman Barq (both Samajwadi Party).
With the support of some regional parties like the Janta Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena, the NDA nominee is likely to get over 515 votes, enough for a comfortable win for him. Ms. Alva is likely to get over 200 votes, going by the support announced by parties for her candidature so far.
Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, are eligible to vote in the vice-presidential poll. The term of incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10. The Vice President is also the chairperson of Rajya Sabha.
Here are the latest updates from the Vice-President election 2022:
‘We are proud to be having a Kisan Putra Vice President’ : PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met Vice-President elect Jagdeep Dhankhar said, “At a time when India marks Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are proud to be having a Kisan Putra Vice President who has excellent legal knowledge and intellectual prowess.”
“I am confident he will be an outstanding Vice President. Our nation will gain tremendously from his intellect and wisdom,” he added.
Nation will benefit from your rich experience of public life: President Murmu to VP-elect Dhankhar
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar on being elected the next Vice President of the country and said the nation will benefit from his long and rich experience in public life.
“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,” Ms. Murmu tweeted.- PTI
Sonia, Rahul congratulate Dhankhar on winning V-P election
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar after he was elected as the 14th vice president of India.
“Congratulations and best wishes to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar on his being elected Vice President of India,” Ms. Gandhi said in a message.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also congratulated him.
“Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar ji on being elected as the 14th Vice President of India,” he said on Twitter.
Rahul Gandhi thanked Margaret Alva for representing the spirit of the joint opposition.
“Thank you to Smt @alva_margaret ji for representing the spirit of the joint Opposition with grace and dignity,” he said.
Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu congratulates V-P elect Dhankhar
Vice-President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu congratulated his successor Jagdeep Dhankhar on his win, adding that the nation will benefit from Mr. Dhankhar’s legal expertise. Mr. Naidu will demit his office of August 10, a day after which, on August 11, Mr. Dhankhar will take oath as the 14th Vice-President of India.
PM Modi meets Vice-President-elect Dhankhar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Vice-President-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday evening to congratulate him on his win.
BJP president J.P. Nadda also met Mr. Dhankhar at the residence of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi here.
The meetings came soon after Mr. Dhankhar was declared winner in the vice-presidential election- PTI
Amit Shah extends congratulations to Jagdeep Dhankhar
Union Home Minister congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar saying that “The Upper House will definitely benefit from his close understanding of grassroot-level issues.”
Margaret Alva concedes defeat
Congratulating Jagdeep Dhankhar on his election to the office of Vice-President of India, Opposition candidate Margaret Alva conceded her defeat.
“This election is over. The battle for protecting our Constitution, strengthening our democracy & restoring the dignity of Parliament, will continue” she said in a series of tweets.
Jagdeep Dhankhar elected 14th Vice-President of India
Lok Sabha Secretary-General Utpal Kumar Singh addresses the media.
The polling for 16 th Vice-presidential election 2022, closed at 5 pm. Out of 780 electors, 725 electors cast their votes. Counting of votes commenced at 6.00 p.m.
Out of the total 725 votes, 710 votes were found valid, and 15 were found invalid.
Mr. Singh informed the media that the quota necessary for being elected to office of Vice-President of India was determined to be 356 votes. On basis of counting, Jagdeep Singh Dhankhar secured 528 first preference votes. Margaret Alva got 182 votes
Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has been duly elected to the office of Vice-President of India, said Mr. Singh
Counting of votes for the Vice-Presidential election has concluded and the results are expected anytime soon.
Counting of votes begins
Counting of votes for the vice presidential election began Saturday evening after nearly 93% of the members of Parliament cast their ballots.
The counting started at 6.00 pm under the supervision of the Lok Sabha Secretary General, who is the returning officer for the poll.- PTI
More than 50 MPs abstain from voting in vice-presidential poll
Around 93% polling was recorded in the vice-presidential election, with more than 50 MPs not exercising their franchise.
Officials said of the total 780 MPs, as many as 725 MPs voted till 5 pm when the polling concluded.
The counting of votes will begin at 6 pm. - PTI
Voting to elect India’s Vice-President ends
The voting process of the vice-presidential election has concluded at 5 p.m. Counting of ballots will begin shortly. - Sansad TV
Congress MPs cast their votes
Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor, Jairam Ramesh, P. Chidambaram, and Mallikarjun Kharge also cast their ballot post noon.
Over 85% MPs vote till 2 p.m.
Over 85% of votes were polled in the vice-presidential election till 2 p.m. Of the 780 MPs in both Houses - another eight Rajya Sabha seats are vacant - around 670 of them had cast their vote so far.
The Trinamool Congress, which has 39 MPs, including 23 in Lok Sabha, has already announced its decision to abstain from this election. - PTI
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh casts vote
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J.P. Nadda, and Commerce Minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal arrived together to cast their vote.
MPs cast their votes to elect India’s next Vice-President
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi cast vote
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi cast their vote for the vice-presidential election.
Akali Dal supports NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankar
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said his party has supported NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar in the polling to elect the next Vice-President of India.
In a tweet, Mr. Badal said, “Shiromani Akali Dal supports a peasant’s son, crusader for farmers’ rights and the man who secured OBC status for the farming community (Jats) in his State, Sh Jagdeep Dhankhar for the Vice-Presidency.”
In another tweet, Mr. Badal said, “Shiromani Akali Dal is happy that in both presidential and vice-presidential polls, we have supported the candidates who have stood by the downtrodden and the farmers.”
Sukhbir Badal and his wife and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal are Members of Lok Sabha. In July, the SAD supported National Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. - PTI
Margaret Alva visits polling booth
UPA vice-presidential candidate Margaret Alva visited the polling booth for the election of the Vice-President of India on Saturday at the Parliament House in New Delhi.
During the visit, Ms. Alva also interacted with Members of Parliament, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and NCP leader Supriya Sule, who were there to cast their respective votes.
Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda among senior leaders to cast vote
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J P Nadda, and Commerce Minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal arrived together to cast their vote.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, BJP chief whip Rakesh Singh, Telangana Rashtra Samithi MPs and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party’s Raghu Rama Krishna Raju vote were among the other that have cast their vote so far. - PTI
Manmohan Singh, Amit Shah cast vote
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and current Home Minister Amit Shah also cast their votes on Saturday for the vice-presidential election at the Parliament House in New Delhi.
Mr. Singh arrived in a wheelchair and needed support to stand up and caste his vote. CPM MP John Brittas was among those who helped the veteran leader in exercising his franchise. The two-term prime minister greeted those present with folded hands.
Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were among the leaders who turned up early at the Parliament House. - PTI
PM Modi casts vote
Polling to elect next Vice President begins
Polling to elect the next Vice President of India began at 10.00 a.m., with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being among the first ones to cast vote.
The polling will continue till 5 pm, following which the counting of ballots will take place.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, 71, is pitted against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, 80. - PTI
BJP organises V-P poll drill for NDA MPs
The BJP on Friday organised a mock voting drill for NDA coalition MPs ahead of the vice-presidential election. BJP president J.P. Nadda and several Union ministers were present during the exercise. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav oversaw it.
After the exercise, NDA’s vice-presidential nominee Jagdeep Dhankar reached Parliament and thanked the MPs of the ruling alliance for nominating him as their candidate. - PTI
Where is the south in this whole set-up, asks Margaret Alva
The Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate, Margaret Alva, who never shies away from a good fight, has made the election about ‘non-representation’ of South India in the country’s top leadership. Read edited excerpts from an interview with the candidate.
Why the BJP picked Jagdeep Dhankhar for Vice-President
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was declared the NDA’s candidate for Vice-President on Saturday, has had a career in public life that stretches to over three decades. He had been a lawyer in the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, was elected MP from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan on a Janata Dal ticket in 1989, and an MLA in Rajasthan in 1993. He was also Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs at the Centre in 1990.
Margaret Alva, a veteran of political comebacks
A five-term member of Parliament, former Union Minister and former Governor, Margaret Alva’s accomplishments made her a unanimous choice of the Opposition parties, which are contesting the vice-presidential (V-P) polls more to prove the point that they are ready for a fight despite the odds to win.
Jagdeep Dhankhar | The party loyalist
On July 30, 2019 when Jagdeep Dhankhar took oath as the Governor of West Bengal, not many in the political and social circles were familiar with his name. The last public office Mr. Dhankhar held was in 1998 as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan, more than two decades before assuming the office of a Governor. Cut to 2022: the 71-year-old politician has been nominated as the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). What has led to his fame perhaps is his eventful but rather controversial term as the Governor of West Bengal.
AAP, JMM announce support to Margaret Alva
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will support joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the August 6 vice-presidential election. The party’s political affairs committee “unanimously” decided to support Alva after a meeting chaired by its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP’s spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday.
