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Usha-pati is Up-rashtrapati: Watch Venkaiah Naidu celebrate VP election win with family

NDA nominee and former union minister Venkaiah Naidu became the 13th VP of India.

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Venkaiah Naidu with his wife Usha
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National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has been elected as the 13th Vice President of India. Taking to Twitter Naidu Vice-President thanked everyone and said, ‘With all humility, I express my gratitude to every MP who supported my candidature cutting across party lines.’ The Opposition nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi secured 244 votes. 760 votes were valid while 11 were invalid. 381 votes were the quota set to win the polls.

Total 771 out of 785 MPs cast their votes today. Ironically, before being picked, he had famously said that he was happy being ‘Usha pati’. "Never am I going to participate in vice president elections even if anyone compels me .Happiness for me is to meet people, be among them and serve them. I cannot stay away from people by taking up any ceremonial position," He had declared he would neither want to become the rashtrapati (president) nor uparashtrapati (vice president) but was happy being Usha's pati (his spouse). "I wish to speak without any barriers and say what I feel, travel to different places, meet people and eat their food," he had said. 

However, he was picked to lead the NDA charge, and comfortably beat his opponent Gopal Krishna Gandhi by 272 votes. 

Watch him celebrate with his family members: 

 

The journey of Venkaiah Naidu

Venkaiah Naidu, the 13th Vice-President of India, may have given up the idea of joining Bharatiya Jana Sangh (predecessor of BJP) on the issue of food choice when he was still a boy. 

Luckily for him, when armed with the question, he went to the local Jana Sangh leader, Somaiah, and was told that the party had no problems if he consumed non-vegetarian food.

“I was actually perplexed when a senior Congress leader asked me why I wanted to join this party from the North when don’t allow members to eat non-veg food. When Somaiahji told me there was no problem, I was reassured.

We don’t serve non-veg as we can manage only veg because of a paucity of funds. If I prepared a non-vegetarian meal, he (Somaiahji) would be happy to be a guest,” said Naidu, fondly reminiscing his early years in the party.

Like most children, it was the sporting activities promoted by the RSS that attracted young Naidu to the organisation. It also set him on a tedious journey — from an RSS activist to a ABVP member — which propelled him into the spotlight after the Jan Andhra Movement in 1972.

Naidu was later imprisoned under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency period between 1975 and 1977.

After becoming the Janata Party Youth Wing president of Andhra Pradesh (1977-1980), he was elected as MLA to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1978.

When Congress won in Andhra Pradesh in 1978, Naidu was elected as MLA from Udayagiri Constituency as a Janata Party candidate.

Son of a farmer, Naidu lost his mother in an accident.

“I was nurtured by the party,” Naidu said.

From a humble agricultural family of Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district, the former BJP national president is known for his oratory. A two-term member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Naidu was never a member of the Lok Sabha.

He was however elected to the Rajya Sabha three times from Karnataka and currently represents Rajasthan in the Upper House of Parliament.

Once an Advani protege, Naidu vigorously backed Modi for the prime minister's post before the 2014 elections. Naidu currently holds the portfolios of Information and Broadcasting and Housing and Urban Affairs. He was also Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the Modi government.

Earlier, he had served as Rural Development Minister in the previous NDA government led by Vajpayee.

The 68-year-old veteran party leader also served as the BJP national president from July 2002 to October 2004 for two consecutive terms. He quit the post after the party's defeat in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Naidu was an ABVP activist during the Emergency and was arrested and jailed.

As the first Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the Modi government, Naidu had defended the prime minister and the government whenever the opposition targeted them in both the houses of Parliament. He had also ensured high political outreach by meeting Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi when there was a standoff between the government and the opposition in Parliament. Several major legislations were cleared by Parliament when he was Parliamentary Affairs Minister, including the historic Real Estate Act and fast forwarding of the GST Bill.

Known for coining acronyms, Naidu termed the mission of the Modi Government as 'MODI- Making of Developed India' which had become the official line of the Centre in its public outreach campaign on the occasion of three years of being in office. As the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, he was always quick to present issues in perspective with effective repartee as and when required.

As Minister of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, which was recently merged as Housing and Urban Affairs, Naidu pioneered the launch of several new urban missions, including the Smart City Mission, Atal Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Housing for All. As Rural Development Minister, Naidu was instrumental in launching the hugely popular 'Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana'.

When the Congress swept the polls in Andhra Pradesh in 1978, Naidu got elected as MLA from Udayagiri Constituency as a Janata Party candidate. He was re-elected on a BJP ticket when N T Rama Rao swept the polls in the state.


With inputs from agencies 

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