The BJP parliamentary board have picked veteran BJP leader and Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu as the ruling NDA's vice presidential candidate . PM Narendra Modi and other senior leaders including Amit Shah attended the meeting and zeroed in on former BJP President Venkaiah Naidu's name. He is currently the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the Narendra Modi government. Amit Shah announced the name formally after the end of the press conference. He said that Venkaiah Naidu will officially file his nomination papers tomorrow at 11 am. Names of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and O Rajagopal were being speculated as possible candidates. Finally Naidu got the nod due to his vast political experience, which will come in handy while conducting affairs in Rajya Sabha. 

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Venkaiah Naidu came to spotlight during the Jai Andhra movement. He became a prominent leader in Andhra Pradesh, and later arrived in the national stage putting in the hard yards for his party. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998 from Karnataka. Later, Venkaiah Naidu also served as two-time BJP President. Naidu is one of the most well known Parliamentarian, and his panache for acronyms have become part of social media conversations in recent times. 

An alliance of 18 opposition parties, including the Congress, has already announced Gopalkrishna Gandhi as its candidate for vice presidential poll scheduled for August 5. July 18 is the last date for filing of nominations.The electoral college for the election consists of 790 MPs of the two chambers of Parliament. The ruling bloc enjoys an overwhelming majority in the electoral college and BJP has expressed confidence about garnering anywhere between 500 and 550 votes.