JP Nadda urges UPA allies to support 'Kisan Putra' Jagdeep Dhankar for Vice President's post

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda on Sunday urged all the political parties, especially UPA allies to support National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Nadda said, "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are all walking with the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and it has been our endeavour to include the poor, deprived, exploited Dalit, tribals who are standing at the last rung in the society to the mainstream and strengthen them. Keeping this in mind, we have selected a tribal woman as the presidential candidate."

The BJP chief further said that for Vice-Presidential polls, the NDA has nominated a 'Kisan Putra', a person from a humble background, who also served the country in different capacities for three decades.

"Now we have a farmer's son, a person who has come out of a simple family and facing socio-economic difficulties, a farmer son has advanced himself as a professional as the first generation and as an able administrator and even as a capable politician, he also served the country in different capacities for three decades," he said.

He urged the allies of the UPA to come together and cooperate in making a farmer's son the Vice President.

"For such a farmer's son, we all should come together and I request all political parties to support Jagdeep Dhankar for the post of Vice President. Now is the time, now is the opportunity, so urge all political parties, especially UPA allies to support Jagdeep Dhankhar. I hope that our UPA colleagues will definitely pay attention to our appeal," he added.

Nadda on Saturday had announced that Dhankar will be the NDA's vice presidential candidate after a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board at the party headquarters.

Dhankhar will file his nomination on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Dhankhar met JP Nadda in Delhi. He also called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, Dhankhar completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh.

After finishing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan. Despite being a first-generation professional, he became a leading lawyer in Rajasthan.

Dhankhar has practised in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He entered public life after getting elected as a Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. Subsequently, he also served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district.

In July 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal.

The Election Commission made an announcement that the elections for the 16th vice president of India will take place on August 6, 2022.

In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India's 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022.

(ANI)

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