BJP chief JP Nadda on Saturday announced Jagdeep Dhankhar’s name as the party’s vice-presidential election candidate. “NDA’s candidate for the post of Vice President of India will be Jagdeep Dhankhar,” BJP chief JP Nadda said. Jagdeep Dhankar is currently the Governor of West Bengal. He is known for opposing the Mamata Banerjee government. Bengal’s ruling party, TMC, has attacked the Governor directly on a regular basis.

Who is Jagdeep Dhankar?

Jagdeep Dhankhar was born in Rajasthan’s Kithana village in 1951. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party before he was appointed the Governor of West Bengal. He completed his primary education at the village school itself. He studied in Chittorgarh’s Sainik School later. He did his graduation from the University of Rajasthan.

Before joining the BJP, he was a Member of Parliament from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu during 1989–91. He was a member of the Janata Dal. He was also the Member of the Legislative Assembly from Rajasthan’s Kishangarh between 1993-98.

Jagdeep Dhankhar is a lawyer by profession. He joined politics in 1989 and became an MP and a Union Minister in 1990. He became the West Bengal Governor in July 2019. Since then, he has had an acrimonious relationship with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress. While the TMC calls him an agent of the BJP in Bengal, the saffron party calls him the upholder of the constitution.

Dhankhar has called out the Bengal government on a host of issues. The most recent point of contention between the two parties was the matter of making the chief minister the de-facto head of the state universities. He slammed the state government over the decision. Dhankhar has also been accusing the state government of promoting political violence in the state.

The state government, on the other hand, accused him of interfering in the function of the bureaucracy and state-run universities.

Jagdeep Dhankhar became the Senior Advocate of the Rajasthan High Court in 1990. Since then, he has been practicing law in the Supreme Court.

He is married to Sudesh Dhankhar, a postgraduate in economics. She is a social worker. Their daughter Kamna is married to a Supreme Court lawyer, Kartikeya Vajpayee.

He has a deep interest in cricket, spirituality, and meditation.

Jagdeep Dhankhar likes to travel with his family. He has been to many countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.