Venkaiah Naidu's way with words

M Venkaiah Naidu, the 13th Vice President of India, is known for his love of acronyms and hard-hitting bon mot. He is the one to have summed up the meaning of APJ Abdul Kalam (APJAK) as 'Anything is Possible with Just Attitude and Karma'.

"I am frank and I have Frank by my side," he had said pointing towards Frank Noronha, who heads the Public Information Bureau.

Just before the Modi government completed a year in office, Rahul had given the NDA government's performance a "zero". Naidu had took him on saying, "Zeros can't recognise Heroes. Zeros find zeros only."

During the whirlwind public meetings that were held as part of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's campaign in 2014, Naidu explained the 'new trend" set by BJP in organising public meetings saying, "We don't believe in the four Bs, so we started charging Rs 5 (Rs 10 in Tamil Nadu) from people who attend these meetings."

The four Bs, he said, were Bus, Biryani, Bottle and Bhatta (the money given to the mobilised crowd)!

Many of his jibes and acerbic sarcasms were directed at the mercurial Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh. "He is now the in-charge of AP. It has to be seen whether he will discharge his duties or the Congress opts for a recharge to make him work."

"A book on his repartees is in the offing," said one of his aides. It remains to be seen whether the BJP leader will continue bashing naysayers with his wit even after his elevation as the Vice-President. The august office has, this time, a good chance of adding a dash of light humour, albeit within some protocol'.