Jagdeep Dhankhar, a renowned lawyer and former West Bengal governor, took over on Thursday as the 14th Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Dhankhar was administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu at a brief swearing-in ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor M Venkaiah Naidu among other dignitaries.
Born to late Gokal Chand and late Kesari Devi on May 18, 1951, at Kithana village under Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, Dhankar started schooling from the Government Primary School at Kithana village. Thereafter, he studied at the Government Middle School, Ghardhana and the Sainik School, Chittorgarh. For his college education, Dhankhar joined Maharaja’s College, Jaipur and graduated in B.Sc. (Honors) Physics. After that, he pursued a degree in Law from the University of Rajasthan.
Jagdeep Dhankhar's Professional Background
Dhankhar began his professional career as a lawyer, and rose to be among the top legal experts in India.
In 1990, he was designated as Senior Advocate by the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan. Ever since, Jagdeep Dhankhar has been practicing primarily in the Supreme Court and his focus areas of litigation have been in the field of Steel, Coal, Mining and International Commercial Arbitration, amongst others.
He has appeared in various high courts in the country and was the senior-most designated Senior Advocate of the State till assuming the Office of the Governor of West Bengal on July 30, 2019.
During his legal career, Dhankhar was the youngest person to be elected as the President of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association, Jaipur in 1987. A year later, he also became a Member of the Rajasthan Bar Council in 1988.
Parliamentary and Public Life
Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is projected as a farmer's son by the BJP during the vice-presidential election, is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of the Janata Dal and the Congress party in the past.
Dhankar was elected to the Parliament of India from Jhunjhunu Parliamentary Constituency in 1989. He also served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990, under the Chandra Shekhar Ministry. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district.
As a legislator, Dhankhar served as the member of important Committees in the Lok Sabha and the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. As Union minister, he was also a member of a delegation as Deputy Leader of a Parliamentary Group to the European Parliament. In July 2019, Dhankhar was appointed as the 21st Governor of West Bengal. He was succeeded by La Ganesan, who is also the governor of Manipur.
Dhankar won the 2022 vice-presidential election on August 6, 2022, with 72.8 per cent votes and recorded a highest poll-victory margin since the 1992 election.
A sports aficionado
An avid reader of books, Dhankhar is a sports aficionado too and he has been the President of the Rajasthan Olympic Association and Rajasthan Tennis Association. Listening to music and travelling are his other hobbies. He has travelled extensively to many countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.
Dhankar married Dr Sudesh Dhankhar in 1979, with whom they have a daughter, Kamna.
