Jagdeep Dhankhar (born 18 May 1951) is an Indian lawyer and politician who was the 14th Vice President of India from 11 August 2022 until he resigned on 21 July 2025. A senior advocate who practised in the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court for four decades, he was earlier a member of the Lok Sabha, a Union minister of state and, from 2019 to 2022, Governor of West Bengal.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Jagdeep Dhankhar |
| Born | 18 May 1951, Kithana, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan, India |
| Age | 75 |
| Profession | Lawyer, politician |
| Offices held | Vice President of India (2022–2025); Governor of West Bengal (2019–2022); Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs (1990–1991) |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (earlier Janata Dal and Indian National Congress) |
| Education | Sainik School, Chittorgarh; Maharaja’s College, Jaipur (B.Sc.); University of Rajasthan (LL.B.) |
| Spouse | Sudesh Dhankhar (m. 1979) |
| Children | 1 daughter (Kamna) |
Early Life
Dhankhar was born into a Jat farming family in the village of Kithana in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. He walked several kilometres to a government school in a neighbouring village before winning a scholarship to Sainik School, Chittorgarh. He took an honours degree in physics at Maharaja’s College in Jaipur and then a law degree at the University of Rajasthan.
Legal Career
He enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Rajasthan in 1979. In 1987 he was elected president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association in Jaipur, the youngest person to hold the post, and in 1990 the High Court designated him a senior advocate. He later practised mainly in the Supreme Court, appearing in matters concerning steel, coal, mining and international commercial arbitration, and was a member of the International Court of Arbitration in Paris.
Political Career
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu in 1989 as a candidate of the Janata Dal and served as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the short-lived government of Chandra Shekhar. He then joined the Congress, lost a Lok Sabha contest from Ajmer in 1991 and was a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Kishangarh from 1993 to 1998. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2000s and was active in the campaign to secure Other Backward Class status for Jats in Rajasthan.
He was appointed Governor of West Bengal in July 2019. His three years in Kolkata were marked by almost continuous public disagreement with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over law and order, university appointments and post-election violence, and the ruling Trinamool Congress repeatedly asked for his removal.
The National Democratic Alliance named him its candidate for Vice President in July 2022, describing him as a “kisan putra”, a farmer’s son. On 6 August he defeated the opposition candidate Margaret Alva by 528 votes to 182. As Vice President he was also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He was an unusually outspoken occupant of the chair: he questioned the Supreme Court’s striking down of the National Judicial Appointments Commission and the “basic structure” doctrine, and argued for the supremacy of Parliament. Relations with the opposition deteriorated, and in December 2024 opposition parties gave notice of a motion to remove him, the first such move against a Vice President; the notice was rejected by the Deputy Chairman.
On the evening of 21 July 2025, the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, he resigned with immediate effect, citing medical advice. C. P. Radhakrishnan was elected to succeed him in September 2025.
Personal Life
He married Sudesh, who holds a doctorate, in 1979. They have a daughter, Kamna; their son, Deepak, died in 1994 at the age of fourteen. He is fond of sport and has headed the Rajasthan Olympic Association and the state tennis association.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Jagdeep Dhankhar born?
Jagdeep Dhankhar was born on 18 May 1951 in Kithana, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan, India and is 75 years old.
Featured image: Official portrait of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President of India, August 2022. Photo by Vice President’s Secretariat, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
