Sonia, Rahul congratulate Jagdeep Dhankhar on winning VP election

New Delhi, Aug 06: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday congratulated Jagdeep Dhankhar after he was elected as the 14th vice president of India.

Dhankhar, 71, will take oath as the next vice president on August 11, a day after incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu's tenure ends.

"Congratulations and best wishes to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar on his being elected Vice President of India," Sonia Gandhi said in a message.

Rahul Gandhi also congratulated him. "Congratulations to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar ji on being elected as the 14th Vice President of India," he said on Twitter.

NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected as the 14th Vice President of India on Saturday as he defeated joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva. Dhankhar, a former governor of West Bengal, secured 528 votes while 80-year-old Alva got 182.

Soon after the announcement of the result, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Dhankhar and congratulated him. Dhankhar, 71, will succeed M Venkaiah Naidu whose tenure ends on August 10. As many as 725 MPs cast their ballots in the poll, which is 92.94 per cent of total votes, an official said, adding 15 votes were declared invalid.