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Journalism of Courage
Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday sworn in as the 14th Vice President of India. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Dhankhar in a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dhankhar’s predecessor M Venkaiah Naidu were among the dignitaries present at the ceremony. With Dhankhar also acting as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha by virtue of being the vice-president, both the Houses of Parliament will be presided over by leaders from Rajasthan.
Dhankar, who was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee for the vice-presidential post, defeated opposition‘s candidate Margaret Alva by a margin of 346 votes. As per data provided by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, out of 780 votes, 725 were cast. Dhankar polled 528 votes while Alva got 182. There were 50 absentees and 15 votes were found invalid.
Born into a farmer’s family in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district in 1951, Dhankhar studied at a local government school before going to Sainik school in Chittorgarh. He is married to Sudesh Dhankhar.
Since his appointment as Bengal governor, Dhankhar had been virtually a one-man opposition, having taken on the TMC government regularly over various issues. The acrimony between the Governor and the state government was been such that CM Banerjee had even blocked Dhankhar on social media.
According to the Raj Bhavan website, Dhankhar is an avid reader, a sports aficionado — he has been president of the Rajasthan Olympic Association and Rajasthan Tennis Association — and loves travelling with his family.
(With inputs from PTI)
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