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Telugu bidda is India’s Vice-President
After intense confabulations and lengthy deliberations, the ruling BJP announced the candidature of Union Minister for Urban Development and I&B Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, for the post of the Vice-President, ending the suspense over the ruling combine\'s nominee for the second important constitutional post, for which the election will be held on August 5.
It’s NDA’s Venkaiah Naidu Vs UPA’s Gopal Gandhi now
New Delhi: After intense confabulations and lengthy deliberations, the ruling BJP announced the candidature of Union Minister for Urban Development and I&B Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, for the post of the Vice-President, ending the suspense over the ruling combine's nominee for the second important constitutional post, for which the election will be held on August 5.
Making the announcement after the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting at the party's national headquarters here on Monday, party president Amit Shah said Naidu's name was a unanimous choice of the party. Naidu's wide parliamentary experience and the rapport with leaders cutting across party lines made him the prime choice.
The party had consulted all NDA partners too in this regard before the announcement. By nominating him for the post, the party could have come up trumps in handling the delicate numbers' game in the Rajya Sabha which has been a headache for the party.
If elected, Naidu will also be the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha where the BJP still lacks a majority. With friends across parties and his amiable nature, Naidu is expected to steer the proceedings in the upper house through possible turbulence.
Naidu was also a dedicated and disciplined party man who served the party interests in all capacities right from his student days. Amit Shah described him as a party veteran and traced his political career from the very beginning and his rise and rise in the party deliberately attacking the Congress, which chose a rank outsider for the contest - Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
Naidu will be the 13th Vice-President of India when he assumes office. As for the two Telugu States, it must be said that both the governments are bound to miss his presence as a senior Cabinet minister, more so Andhra Pradesh to which he was the 'guide, mentor and philosopher' who personally extended hand-holding after the bifurcation. All the same, he was open to intervene on behalf of Telangana too whenever such a situation arose in the past.
It will be of interest to see how Venkaiah Naidu would maintain his official schedules off the political mainstream. Naidu who defied age and its afflictions has always been seen as a fountainhead of energy dealing with social and political situations with aplomb. His wit and sarcasm and his charm-offensive could make a rare appearance now once he occupies the high office.
Naidu was congratulated ahead of the announcement by the leaders of several parties, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the morning.
However, if the BJP chose him with an eye on the South, how much of political gain the party could make in future in the South of Vindhyas is also to be seen. Venkaiah Naidu has been a quintessential Rajya Sabha man and may be of immense help to the party in handling crisis situations in the Rajya Sabha.
