New Delhi: Venkaiah Naidu took oath as the 13th Vice-President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He has become the first Vice-President of India who was born after Independence. As the Vice-President, Venkaiah Naidu will also be the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
It has been an eventful journey for the BJP’s acronym man. Venkaiah Naidu began his political career in Andhra Pradesh as student leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad – associated with the Jana Sangh – in 1970s.
In informal talks in the political circles, Venkaiah Naidu has been referred to as the meat lover in a vegetarian party. Venkaiah Naidu’s love for food had almost forced him to snap ties with the Jana Sangh in the early days itself.
When the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was still growing and spreading its branches in various states of the country, its leaders had to counter several kinds of ridicules and jokes. One of them in Andhra Pradesh was defacing of its names by activists of the rival parties.
Venkaiah Naidu stayed on with the Jana Sangh and later the BJP when it was founded in 1980.
Venkaiah Naidu was one of the leaders who shot into prominence during JP movement. Naidu was imprisoned during the Emergency years. After Emergency, Venkaiah Naidu was elected as Janata Party MLA in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Venkaiah Naidu migrated to the BJP in 1980. Naidu headed the party 22 years later. Venkaiah Naidu became the youngest national president of the BJP at 52 in 2002. In several interviews, Venkaiah Naidu has termed his elevation as the party president as mark of strong internal democracy in his party.
Venkaiah Naidu had two terms as the MLA from Udaygiri constituency in Nellore till 1983. Naidu has been a four-time Rajya Sabha member. Naidu served as the Rural Development Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Before being elected as the Vice-President, Venkaiah Naidu held the positions of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, the Information and Broadcasting Minister and Urban Development Minister in the Narendra Modi government.
Venkaiah Naidu is known for witty responses and framing acronyms. In recent times, Naidu emerged as among the most vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his own style, Venkaiah Naidu gave an acronym for MODI as Making of Developed India. Paying tribute to former President APJ Abdul Kalam, Naidu dropped an acronym for his name as Anything is Possible with Just Attitude and Karma.
After having been elected as the Vice-President of India, Venkaiah Naidu gave a new defining of India with yet another acronym. Venkaiah Naidu tweeted, “India stands for: Integrated National Development Impacting All Indians, equally well. This is the mission for India.”
