Venkaiah Naidu Set to Become The Next Vice-President; This is Why BJP Chose Him

The leader has resigned from the council of ministers and has also dissociated himself from the party that he called his mother.

Edited By: Vaibhav Tiwari

Updated: July 19, 2017, 12:22 AM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/venkaiah-naidu-set-to-become-the-next-vice-president-why-bjp-chose-him-2329176/ Copy

Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi, July 18: Venkaiah Naidu is set to become the next Vice-President of the country as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the requisite number in both the houses of Parliament. The leader has resigned from the council of ministers and has also dissociated himself from the party that he called his mother.

There is almost no chance for the opposition candidate Gopal Krishna Gandhi to win the poll. The members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha form the electoral college in VP elections. There are 790 MPs in both houses. To win, Naidu needs 396 votes. The NDA has 412 MPs in Parliament. Political parties like AIADMK, YSR Congress, and TRS, may also support the BJP. So the number can cross 500 easily. Gandhi’s contention in the poll is a mere formality.

How did it happen?

Indian Express reported that after the decision was taken, PM Modi spoke to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, CM of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other leaders. He told them that he had chosen a good candidate and sought their support to choose him with an overwhelming majority.

Venkaiah Naidu was not much upbeat about his prospects of being the Vice-President of the country. The reason is that he wanted to continue in active politics. Indian Express reported that Amit Shah held discussions with PM Narendra Modi and later had talks with RSS leadership. The BJP chief conveyed the decision to Naidu. He told him that PM Modi would talk to him about the issue and that he should not say no. (Also read: Vice Presidential Election: Venkaiah Naidu, Gopal Krishna Gandhi File Nomination in Show of Strength)

Naidu’s name was doing the rounds for Presidential candidature as well. However, PM Modi is reported to have said that he couldn’t spare a senior leader like Naidu. However, he said recently that he had to let him go in the interest of the nation.

Why was Venkaiah Naidu chosen?

The Bharatiya Janata Party is in minority in Rajya Sabha. The upper house of Parliament has heavy weights like Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ram Gopal Yadav, Digvijaya Singh etc. The party wanted someone of their stature to be the chairman of the House. Naidu has a personal rapport with opposition leaders, which works in BJP’s favour.

Another reason is that the party wanted to field a leader from the southern part of the country after it fielded Ram Nath Kovind for the Presidential election. Naidu hails from Andhra Pradesh. The party wants to make inroads in the southern states. He has been actively implementing BJP’s plans in the South. Also, the party wanted to give a message to the people of southern states, two of which are going to polls next year.