Venkaiah Naidu is new VP of India
new delhi — Veteran BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu, who had humble origins in an agriculturist family in Andhra Pradesh, was on Saturday elected as the Vice-President of India, completing the quartet of top four constitutional posts — President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker — going to persons from BJP with RSS background for the first time in 70 years.
Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, 68, who was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and later the Narendra Modi governments, defeated the combined opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi by a huge margin of 272 votes in a straight contest, whose verdict was already predictable.
At the end of two-hour counting process in the 15th vice-presidential election, Returning Officer Shamsher K. Sherif announced the election of Naidu, who secured 516 votes against 244 by Gandhi. In all, 771 votes were cast out of a total of 785 MPs eligible to vote. Eleven votes were declared invalid. Of this, seven were voters backing Gandhi.
A seasoned politician, Naidu, who had his political teeth cut in the RSS and later Bharatiya Jana Sangh, had been President of the BJP. Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari, is a bureaucrat-turned-diplomat, who was Governor of West Bengal. He was fielded by the Congress-led Opposition with backing from parties, including Trinamool Congress, Left, BJD and the Janata Dal-U.
Soon after his election, Naidu said he as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, would steer the functioning of the House ‘without fear or favour’ and uphold its dignity and decorum with the cooperation of all members by acting in accordance with the rules and conventions of the House.
In his reaction, Gandhi congratulated Naidu on his victory and wished him all the best in his new office. Gandhi thanked all the parties that supported him and said that the voting figures showed that the numbers that voted for him were ‘beyond expectations’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Naidu on his victory and expressed confidence that he will serve the nation “as a diligent and dedicated Vice-President, committed to the goal of nation building”. —