NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected on Saturday as the next vice-president of India by securing over two-thirds of votes leaving Opposition candidate Margaret Alva far behind.
Dhankhar got 528 votes out of total 725 votes cast while Alva could only manage 182 votes. Of the total 725 votes polled, 15 were found to be invalid. Although 788 MPs are there in both the Houses of Parliament.
Dhankhar will be the 14th person to hold the second highest Constitutional post. The oath of office will be taken on August 11, a day after the term of the incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu ends.
The electoral college comprises 788 MPs – 543 in Lok Sabha and 245 in Rajya Sabha. Leaving aside the eight vacant seats in Rajya Sabha. Out of eight seats, fours are from Jammu and Kashmir, three are nominated, one seat is vacant from Tripura and 34 MPs of Trinamool Congress, which decided to abstain from voting.
In the 2012 polls, Ansari had bagged 490 and NDA nominee Jaswant Singh 238 votes. In the 2017 vice-presidential poll, incumbent Venkaiah Naidu had polled 516 votes, Gandhi could only manage 224 votes.