#WhatTheFAQ: Who is Jagdeep Dhankhar, front runner in the Vice-Presidential elections happening today, August 6?

Elections to choose the next Vice-President of India will be held today, August 6. Jagdeep Dhankhar is expected to win with just the BJP support alone. Let’s find out more about the candidate and the
The Vice-Presidential election will be held today | Pic: EdexLive
The Vice-Presidential election will be held today | Pic: EdexLive

After a political battle between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-backed candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar and the opposition-backed candidate Margaret Alva, the members of Parliament will vote today, August 6 to choose the country’s next Vice-President. So far, reports have suggested that Dhankhar will receive 527 votes, much higher than the 372 that are necessary to win. (The NDA has 441 MPs out of the total 780 MPs in the electoral college, including 394 from the BJP and several non-NDA parties are also supporting him)

But who is former Governor of West bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar and what is with his frequent war of words with Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee? How will the Vice-Presidential polling process take place?

Who is the candidate led by the NDA?

Jagdeep Dhankhar, from Rajasthan, who is the NDA candidate for the post is also known for his former role as the Governor of Bengal. He has a legal background as he served as an advocate in the Rajasthan High Court and then the Supreme Court as well. He was also a member of the International Court of Arbitration, and was famously known for fighting high-profile cases, including being the counsel for actor Salman Khan in the blackbuck poaching case in Rajasthan. He stepped foot into politics in 1989 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan in the same year and served as the Union Minister in 1990 — as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. While speaking about Dhankhar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief JP Nadda, said that he is a “people’s governor” and "fully-equipped with administrative capacity."

Who is the candidate backed by the opposition, Indian National Congress (INC)?

Margaret Alva, from Karnataka, who is the candidate for the post and is backed by the opposition, has served as the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Parliamentary Affairs (1984–85), Youth and Sports, Women and Child Development and Science and Technology. She has also served as the Governor of Rajasthan, Goa and Uttarakhand. In fact, she was the first female Governor of Uttarakhand. She aligned herself with the Congress which was led by Indira Gandhi then and was a part of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and also became the convenor of the Karnataka Congress’ women’s front in 1972. Her efforts toward bettering women’s issues could be observed when she tried to increase the number of female officeholders in various ministries and government organisations.

Among other parties, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have vowed to support Alva. 

How is the Vice-President of India elected?

The polling process will take place at the Parliament House between 10 am and 5 pm today, August 6 and votes will be counted on the same day. An electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha — elect the Vice-President of the country. The voting process is conducted through a secret ballot by following the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. In this system, the elector has to mark preferences (either in Indian or Roman numerals) against the names of the candidates.

The number of votes that are of the first choice, received by each MP is calculated. Then, the calculated numbers are added together and divided by two, one is added to the quotient, disregarding any remainder. The result will be the quota that is required for a candidate to run in the election for the required position. The candidate will be elected as the Vice-President if the total number of votes secured by any candidate at the end of the first count is equal to or greater than the quota.

For contesting as a Vice-President, the candidate “shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State.”  

What has been the tussle between Dhankhar and the Mamata Banerjee-led government?

Since Dhankhar was appointed as the Governor of Bengal in July 2019, he has had a war of words with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in the state. In fact, he has often been accused of acting as an "agent of the BJP", according to reports. Dhankhar has even gone to the extent of accusing the state of “becoming a laboratory for the trampling of human rights”. This was then followed by Mamata Banerjee blocking Dhankhar on Twitter. The tussle between them deepened when the West Bengal Assembly passed several bills to replace Dhankhar and make Banerjee the Chancellor of several state-run, veterinary and agricultural universities, which was against the norms being followed in other states. 

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