Venkaiha Naidu : The 13th Vice President of India
Venkaiah Naidu is going to take charge as the new Vice-President of India. Naidu’s victory was a foregone conclusion, the NDA candidate having the support of a majority of MPs who ally with the BJP.
The EC said that 771 votes were polled, of which Venkaiah Naidu secured 516 and Gopalkrishna Gandhi 241 votes.
Naidu’s victory means for the first time since Independence, the PM, President and Vice-President, are from the BJP stable. For the new president, it marks the culmination of a long political journey that began in Andhra Pradesh, when he came to the spotlight during the Jai Andhra movement.
Venkaiah Naidu now will be the Chair of the Rajya Sabha.
He became a prominent leader in Andhra Pradesh, and later arrived in the national stage putting in the hard yard for his party. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998 from Karnataka.
Venkaiah Naidu also served as two-time BJP President and is one of the most well-known Parliamentarians, and his panache for acronyms have become part of social media conversations in recent times.
Before resigning, he was the the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the Narendra Modi government.
Sources said that 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) were not present during the voting process.
Two from BJP, two from Congress, two from Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), , one from NCP, four from TMC,one from Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and two Independent.
The winner of the polls will be appointed as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The term of incumbent Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who held the position for two consecutive terms, will come to an end on August 10.