Jagdeep Dhankhar, the 14th Vice President of India, has had a long and distinguished career as a lawyer, legislator, and administrator. His journey to the second-highest office in India is marked by his humble beginnings, education, and experience in various political roles.

Dhankhar was born on May 18, 1951, in Kithana, a village in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, to Gokal Chand and Kesari Devi in a Hindu Jat family. Despite limited resources, he pursued his education with dedication. He completed his schooling at Sainik School, Chittorgarh, and earned a B.Sc. in Physics and an LLB from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. In 1979, he married Sudesh Dhankhar, and they have a daughter named Kamna.

Dhankhar enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Rajasthan in 1979. He was designated as a Senior Advocate by the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan in 1990. He remained the senior-most designated Senior Advocate in the state until he took the oath as Governor on July 30, 2019. Since 1990, Dhankhar has primarily practiced constitutional law in the Supreme Court of India and has appeared in various high courts. He also served as the president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association.

Dhankhar's political career began in 1989 when he was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha from the Jhunjhunu constituency as a member of the Janata Dal. From 1990 to 1991, he served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. In 1991, he joined the Indian National Congress and unsuccessfully contested the general election from the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency. He was later elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kishangarh, Rajasthan, serving from 1993 to 1998. Before becoming Governor, he was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He served as the Governor of West Bengal from July 30, 2019, to July 17, 2022. His tenure was marked by active engagement with the state government and frequent emphasis on constitutional propriety and cooperative federalism. He often used social media to express his views on political issues, leading to public confrontations with the state government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) branded Dhankhar as the "real leader of the opposition".

On July 16, 2022, the BJP nominated Dhankhar as the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for Vice President of India. He was projected as a "kisan putra" (farmer's son) by the BJP. He contested against Margaret Alva, a former Union Minister and Governor from the Indian National Congress. Dhankhar won the election and assumed the office of Vice President of India on August 11, 2022. As Vice President, he also serves as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

[On July 21, 2025], Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from his post as Vice President of India, citing health reasons and medical advice. His resignation came hours after he chaired the Rajya Sabha's first Monsoon session.