The Narendra Modi government has picked Union Urban Development and I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu as India's next vice-presidential candidate. BJP president Amit Shah made the announcement at a press conference held after a meeting of the Parliamentary Board. Choosing the senior BJP leader as the VP candidate is a well-thought out and balanced decision considering Ram Nath Kovind as the NDA's presidential candidate, and Naidu's experience as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
It is no secret that the BJP holds plans to expand its influence in the South. Branding Naidu can be seen as a symbol of goodwill for the region. He was initially seen as among the couple of picks for President until Modi decided against relieving any of his cabinet colleagues for Rashtrapati Bhavan. “He is a disciplined party cadre and accepted the decision happily,” Shah said when asked if Naidu was happy with the position. However, sources said he “wept inconsolably” at a meeting of the BJP's top leaders, including PM Modi, where he was finalised for vice-president. “He broke down and said the party is like his mother, it would be difficult for him to leave the BJP after so many decades,” said sources. They added that as he sobbed, senior leaders like Finance Minister Arun Jaitley went to him, and consoled him. Naidu eventually accepted the decision.
It was reported that Naidu was approached by Shah a week ago, but his heart was not in it. “He said he wanted to be with PM Modi at least till 2019, and then explore sanyaas from politics,” sources said. Shah informed the 68 year old that he was the choice of most in the BJP and RSS, and the PM was not ready to let go of him but had to be persuaded. Later when Naidu filed his nomination papers, it was in the presence of top leaders including Modi. Later after he quit the BJP and no longer belonged to any party, Naidu in his meeting with the press, said, “I lost my mother at a very young age of one year and six months. Then I treated my party as my mother and they have really brought me up to this level. It is very painful to leave the party... That's why I became a little emotional.”
Following Shah's announcement, Modi endorsed Naidu with a tweet that read, “I know M Venkaiah Naidu Garu for years. Have always admired his hard work and tenacity. A fitting candidate for the office of vice-president.”
President poll sees highest voting
In a direct contest between NDA's Ram Nath Kovind and the Opposition's Meira Kumar, over 99 per cent of elected representatives - MPs and MLAs, across the country cast their votes to elect India's next President. Voting was held in 32 polling stations, including one in Parliament House and one each in every state assembly.
Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Puducherry recorded 100 per cent voting while in Parliament House, the voting percentage was 99 per cent, Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra, who is the returning officer for the poll, said. The voting percentage for MPs was 99.61 per cent while it was 99.37 per cent for MLAs.
