BJP President Jagdeep Nadda on Saturday announced that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has chosen West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the post of Vice President of India.
The 71-year-old was appointed as the governor by President Ram Nath Kovind on July 30, 2019.
The BJP Parliamentary Board meeting was going on in the evening to choose the party’s candidate for the Vice Presidential election.
Those who attended the meeting included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, besides BJP president JP Nadda.
Lauding the Governor, PM Modi said that Dhankhar always worked for the betterment of farmers, youth, women and marginalized people.
In a series of tweets, he said, “Farmer son Jagdeep Dhankhar ji is known for his humility. He has brought with him an illustrious legal, legislative and governor career. He has always worked for farmers, youth, women and their well being. worked for.” Deprived.
Dhankhar has excellent knowledge of our Constitution and is also well versed in legislative matters, the PM said.
“I am sure that he will be an outstanding Speaker in the Rajya Sabha and will guide the proceedings of the House with a view to furthering the national progress,” he said.
Prior to his current role as governor, Dhankhar has been a renowned lawyer and was instrumental in securing OBC status to Jats in Rajasthan.
According to various official accounts, he used to walk 4-5 kms to a government school when he was in class 6, has also been a cricketer and a keen student of spirituality and meditation.
His nomination means that the presiding officers of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will be from Rajasthan, one of only two states currently ruled by governments, which coincidentally go to polls next year.
Born in a remote village in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan to a farmer family, he completed his schooling from Sainik School, Chittorgarh.
After completing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from University of Rajasthan and practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
After being elected MP from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, he served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district.
In 2017, the party nominated then cabinet minister M Venkaiah Naidu, a former BJP president and veteran MP, as its vice-president candidate. Naidu had comfortably won the election to occupy the country’s second highest constitutional post.