Jagdeep Dhankhar as BJP VP candidate: The curious case of Himanta Biswa Sarma's meeting with Mamata Banerjee

New Delhi: On July 13, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Raj Bhavan in Darjeeling.

Banerjee greeted both with shawls and the three sat for a discussion.

Dhankhar tweeted the pictures and the same were retweeted by Sarma. Banerjee chose to remain silent.

Three days later, Dhankhar was named as the Bharatiya Janata Party's vice-presidential candidate.

Is it some kind of a coincidence? Was the meeting a prelude to the announcement? There is a lot of curiosity and speculation over what transpired in that meeting.

The frequent run-ins between Dhankhar and Banerjee are not hidden from anyone. The two have been at each other's throats ever since Dhankhar took over as the West Bengal governor in July 2019.

Banerjee wanted him out of West Bengal at any cost. He was undoubtedly a thorn in the flesh of Banerjee.

So, why did the BJP leadership shift Dhankhar out of the state when he was literally functioning as the leader of the opposition?

The answer to this question will largely come on July 21 when Banerjee will discuss the vice-presidential elections with her party colleagues.

But for now, Banerjee has been given a breather and how long this ceasefire will prevail could be anybody's guess.

By nominating Dhankhar, the BJP has attempted a big reach out to Jats who along with Sikhs from Punjab were at the forefront of the year-long agitation on Delhi borders by farmers who eventually forced the government to withdraw the three agricultural laws.

Dhankhar, 71, is a Jat from Rajasthan, which goes to polls in November-December next year. Jats constitute around 14% of the total population of Rajasthan.

This explains BJP chief JP Nadda's description of Dhankhar being a 'Kisaan Putra (son of a farmer) while announcing his name on Saturday.

Dhankhar has travelled a lot in his political career. From being a disciple of one of the tallest Jat leaders from Haryana, late Choudhary Devi Lal, to serving as a minister in the VP Singh government from 1989 to 1991 and then becoming a Congress legislator in Rajasthan in 1993 to finally joining the BJP two decades ago, he never remained tied by ideological boundaries.

Dhankhar was truly a surprise pick as many names, including Rajnath Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Captain Amarinder Singh and even Ghulam Nabi Azad, were doing the rounds in the media. Except for a few, no one had any clue about the game plan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The only point on which everyone seemed to agree was that incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu will not be given an extension.

It is now the opposition's turn to find a candidate who is willing to take on Dhankhar. The numbers are heavily stacked against the opposition candidate with the BJP on its own having the requisite strength to get its candidate elected.

The electoral college for electing India's vice president, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairperson by default, comprises members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Out of Parliament's current strength of 780, the BJP alone has 394 members, more than the majority mark of 390.

In that case, the winner has already been decided and the elections on August 6 now remain a mere formality.