New Delhi: Venkaiah Naidu was sworn-in as the 13th Vice-President of India on Friday with President Ram Nath Kovind administering the oath of office to the former Union minister.
The ceremony was conducted in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Naidu takes over the charge from Hamid Ansari whose second term ended on Thursday.
Naidu, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate, was elected as Vice-President after securing over two-thirds of votes polled.
Naidu got 516 votes out of total 771 votes cast while Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi could manage only 244. Of the 771 votes polled, 11 were found to be invalid. Although 785 MPs are there in both the Houses of Parliament, 14 MPs could not vote.
Naidu will be the 15th Vice-President and 13th person to hold the second highest Constitutional post.
Starting as a student leader, Naidu’s rise to become the Vice-president of India is a culmination of the 46-year-long political journey.
One of the prime reasons for the ruling party to get Naidu into the V-P fray was his popularity. Despite thumping victories in Uttar Pradesh and Assam, BJP has had a struggle with Rajya Sabha numbers. Naidu can be of great help to the government in the Upper House.
Naidu’s association with politics started off during his college years where he graduated in politics and diplomatic studies. He was part of BJP’s student wing, ABVP, during his college days and was a swayamsevak for RSS.
Later, when he went on to study in Andhra University, he was made ABVP president of all colleges under the university. It was in 1972 that he came into the spotlight with Jai Andhra Movement. The agitation led to the resignation of the then Andhra Pradesh chief minister PV Narasimha Rao and President’s Rule was imposed in the state.
Naidu’s rise was, however, cut short temporarily when he was jailed during the Emergency, under Maintenance of Internal Security Act. Soon after being released, he moved on to become an MLA in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1978.
He was made the party’s Andhra unit president in 1988, and he served in that capacity until 1993, a post which he was elevated to the post of the party’s general secretary. He was the secretary till 2000. He was also the national spokesperson from 1996-2000.
The veteran was also the party’s president for two terms in 2002 and 2004.
During the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, he was the rural development minister. In Modi government, he has held the portfolio of housing, urban poverty alleviation as well as information and broadcasting.
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