BJP picks Bengal Guv Jagdeep Dhankhar for Vice President

New Delhi, July 16

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be the NDA candidate for Vice Presidential polls. BJP chief J.P. Nadda announced the name of Dhankhar as the NDA candidate after the Parliamentary Board meeting at party headquarters here.

"After detailed discussion and considering all the names, the BJP Parliamentary Board has decided to announce the name of Kisan Putra Jagdeep Dhankhar as the BJP and NDA candidate for the post of Vice President. Presently he is the Governor of West Bengal and has been in public life for almost three decades," Nadda said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief J.P. Nadda, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were present in the Parliamentary Board meeting.

The BJP-led NDA candidate Dhankhar is all set to become next Vice President in this election as the voters are the members of Parliament and the BJP has a huge mandate in the Lok Sabha while in the Rajya Sabha it is the single largest party having more than 90 seats.

In the last election, the opposition fielded Gopalkrishna Gandhi but he lost to BJP's M Venkaiah Naidu. In 2017, Naidu polled 516 votes defeating the opposition's Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who could manage only 244 votes.

The last date for filing of nomination papers for the Vice President poll is July 19 and election is scheduled to be held on August 6. The date on which counting, if required, shall be taken on the same day.

--IANS