‘His intellect…:’ PM Modi after meeting vice president-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called on former West Bengal governor and NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar soon after the latter was elected as India's new Vice President.

Later, Modi took to Twitter and said, “Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji on being elected India’s Vice President with resounding support across party lines. I am confident he will be an outstanding Vice President. Our nation will gain tremendously from his intellect and wisdom.”

"I thank all those MPs who have voted for Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji. At a time when India marks Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we are proud to be having a Kisan Putra Vice President who has excellent legal knowledge and intellectual prowess," the Prime Minister added.

BJP president JP Nadda also met Dhankhar at the residence of Union minister Pralhad Joshi in New Delhi.

He got 528 votes against opposition candidate Margaret Alva who got 182 votes.

Modi was amongst the first leaders to cast his vote in the morning. Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda also cast their votes. Manmohan Singh arrived in a wheelchair to cast his vote. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also cast his vote besides other MPs.

Lok Sabha secretary general Utpal Kumar Singh, who was the presiding officer for the 16th Vice Presidential election, said that of the 780 MPs eligible to cast votes, 725 MPs cast their vote. Fifteen votes were found invalid and 710 votes were valid.

The polling to elect the new vice president began at 10 am today and concluded at 5 pm. The counting of votes began after 6 pm.

The next Vice-President of the country will take the oath of office on August 11, a day after the term of the incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu ends.