Venkaiah is VP- Sidelined from politics

Venkaiah Naidu it is believed, needed some convincing. “I neither want to become Rashtrapati (president), nor do I want to become uprashtrapati (vice president).

I am happy being Usha’s pati (wife Usha’s husband),” he had said in May.Usha’s pati (wife Usha’s husband),” he had said in May.

It looks like he has been sidelined from the active politics and made the Vice president. He was active in AP and Telangana development. While some of them are happy with the decision, some others are unhappy that it has gone against the personal interest of Venkaiah. Analysts feel it is a loss to the Telugu states as he will not be active in politics and he would have restrictions being the Vice-President.

Venkaiah was in tears when  PM Modi announced his name. Modi patted him and asked him to serve the nation.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu is the BJP’s choice for Vice Presidential candidate against Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the opposition’s nominee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a meeting of top BJP leaders, tweeted that he had known the 68-year-old politician for years and had “always admired his hard work and tenacity”.

Mr Naidu, the Urban Development Minister, will file his nomination tomorrow for the August 5 election.
“I am neither runner up, nor winner up. I am not aspiring to be anything, there is no such habit in BJP. The party decides,” he had said before the meeting, not denying that he was the party’s choice.

But the party had more or less decided even before the meeting, it appeared; a note on his “journey to VP’s office” was shared even before any decision was announced.

The choice confirms the importance that the party attaches to improving its presence in south India, especially Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Mr Naidu also checks important boxes for the party; he is the seasoned politician it can trust to run smoothly the Rajya Sabha, where the Vice President is chairman and where the government is in a minority, and he also believes in the core values of the BJP and its ideological mentor the RSS.

The PM referred to his “years of parliamentary experience” and his goodwill across the political spectrum.On Sunday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi conceded that the opposition doesn’t have the numbers but called it a battle that needs to be fought hard.

Like in the case of President, the BJP’s Vice President nominee enjoys a clear edge over the his opposition rival. With the backing of southern parties like AIADMK, Telengana Rashtra Samiti and YSR Congress, the government candidate is likely to win the votes of 557 MPs in the electoral college of 787 MPs.