Who is Jagdeep Dhankar, West Bengal Governor, Mamata Banerjee’s bete noire and now NDA’s pick for Vice-President?

The ruling National Democratic Alliance today named West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the vice presidential elections to be held on August 6, announced BJP national president JP Nadda on Saturday. The 71-year-old’s name was approved in the BJP parliamentary board meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

However, Dhankar’s present role as the the Governor of West Bengal has been riddled with many controversies and frequent run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government since he assumed charge of the post on July 30, 2019. Earlier this year, Banerjee, while saying “enough is enough,” blocked Dhankar on Twitter stating that “he is accusing and attacking us every morning.” She further added that she was “disturbed” by his regular tweets.

Banerjee’s move came a day after Dhankar accused the state of “becoming a laboratory for the trampling of human rights” and that “people are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy.”

Dhankar has been accused by the TMC of being an “agent of BJP” and overstepping his boundaries by interfering in the state’s governance. Meanwhile, Dhankar has, time and again, claimed that there is a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state. While reacting to the post-poll violence in Bengal after the 2021 Assembly Elections, Dhankar said “there is no rule of law in the state as it is being governed by a ruler.”

The rocky relationship between Banerjee and Dhankar took a turn for the worse when the TMC-dominant West Bengal Assembly passed several bills to replace Dhankar and make Banerjee the Chancellor to state-run, veterinary and agricultural varsities, as against the existing norm in other states. Earlier this month, Dhankar, exercising his constitutional powers, returned the bill making Bengal CM as the Chancellor of the state-run universities. Banerjee has also claimed that she had written three letters to PM Modi requesting for his removal as the state’s Governor.

A senior advocate, who has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, Dhankat tasted his first political success in 1989 when he became Janata Dal’s Lok Sabha MP from Jhunjhunu in 1989. He was also an MLA from Kishangarh, Rajasthan from 1993 to 1998. Dhankar’s win in the upcoming VP elections is a foregone conclusion as the BJP alone has more 394 MPs out of total 780 MPs in the Parliament, the majority mark being 390. The last date for filing the nomination papers is on July 19. The opposition is yet to name a candidate for the VP polls. The incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu’s tenureWho is Jagdeep Dhankar, Bengal Governor and Mamata Banerjee’s bete noir who now is NDA’s pick for Vice-President?

The NDA has named West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the vice presidential elections to be held on August 6, announced BJP national president JP Nadda on Saturday. The 71-year-old Dhankar’s name was approved in the BJP parliamentary board meeting, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

However, Dhankar’s present role as the the Governor of West Bengal has been riddled with many controversies and frequent run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government since he assumed the post on July 30, 2019. Earlier this year, Banerjee, while saying “enough is enough,” blocked Dhankar on Twitter as “he is accusing and attacking us every morning.” She further added that she was “disturbed” by his regular tweets.

Banerjee’s move came a day after Dhankar accused the state of “becoming a laboratory for the trampling of human rights” and that “people are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy.”

Dhankar has been accused by the TMC of being an “agent of BJP” and overstepping his boundaries by interfering in the state governance. Meanwhile, Dhankar has, time and again, claimed that there is a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state. While reacting to the post-poll violence in Bengal after the 2021 Assembly Elections “there is no rule of law in the state as it is being governed by a ruler.”

The rocky relationship between Banerjee and Dhankar took a turn for the worse when the TMC-dominant West Bengal Assembly passed several bills to replace Dhankar and make Banerjee the Chancellor to state-run, veterinary and agricultural varsities, as against the existing norm in other states. Earlier this month, Dhankar, exercising his constitutional powers, returned the bill making Bengal CM as the Chancellor of the state-run universities. Banerjee has also claimed that she had written three letters to PM Modi requesting for his removal as the state’s Governor.

A senior advocate, who has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, tasted his first political success in 1989 when he became Janata Dal’s Lok Sabha MP from Jhunjhunu in 1989. He was also an MLA from Kishangarh, Rajasthan during from 1993 to 1998. Dhankar’s win in the upcoming VP elections is a foregone conclusion as the BJP alone has more 394 MPs out of total 780 MPs in the Parliament, the majority mark being 390. The last date for filing the nomination papers is on July 19. The opposition is yet to name a candidate for the VP polls. The incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu’s tenure will end on August 10, while the new VP will take oath on August 11.