He took the oath as the 14th Vice President of the country about 4 months ago. On Wednesday, the country saw him in the new seat he received as ex officio. Jagdeep Dhankhar chaired the Rajya Sabha session for the first time as Chairman. The winter session of Parliament started on Wednesday. It will continue until December 29. The name of the former Governor of Bengal also came up again and again in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the opening of the session. Referring to Dhankhar's landslide victory in the vice-presidential election, Modi said, "He has fulfilled the duties of the governor. He can work with everyone. I believe he will move forward with all of us. We will prosper under his guidance."


PM Modi Urges Opposition


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PM Modi also highlighted Dhankhar's success as a lawyer. At the same time, the Prime Minister appealed to the opposition MPs to extend their support to the new chairman in conducting the meeting. Incidentally, NDA candidate Dhankhar won the vice presidential election on August 6 by a large margin, defeating the opposition candidate Margaret Alva. The former Governor of Bengal got 528 votes. Alva 182. 34 Trinamool MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha abstained from voting. After that, he took the oath as vice president on August 11. Along with that, he also got the responsibility of chairman of the Rajya Sabha as ex officio.


Dhankhar's Big Challenge


Incidentally, Parliament was adjourned on August 8, 4 days before the scheduled end of the replacement session of the Parliament on August 12. Therefore, Dhankhar is conducting the first meeting in the winter session itself. Many political analysts think that the biggest challenge for him is to manage the work of the upper house of the parliament properly in the coming days. Because, before the Lok Sabha polls, they think that the mercury of the conflict between the ruling and opposition camps in the parliament could rise even more.


After Nitish Kumar's JD(U) defected from the BJP, the NDA's number of MPs in the Rajya Sabha has dwindled to close to the combined number of opposition MPs. From opposing the passage of 'controversial' bills or motions to bringing the Rajya Sabha to a standstill, the opposition, including the Congress and the Trinamool, can now enter the chamber with more force than ever before. Dealing with that possible situation is the 'big challenge' for Dhankhar.