Former Advani loyalist, Naidu is Modi’s Vice Prez pick

Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, who is known for his witty acronyms and his support for personal food choices in the wake of the beef ban, was declared as National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Vice-Presidential candidate by BJP President Amit Shah on Monday.

Announcing his candidature, BJP President Amit Shah said on Monday that he has been active in politics for 40 years.

“He has been the face of JP Movement in South. He has been a two-time BJP President and a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government,” Shah said while making the announcement and added that the Union Urban Development Minister would file his nomination papers on Tuesday (July 18) at 11 am.

Some of the political observers quickly remarked that the decision is aimed to placate Advani camp in the BJP; while some others felt that Naidu being selected as VP candidate reflects BJP’s plan of expansion in the south.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his support

Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted,

The decision to nominate Naidu was taken after the Parliamentary Board Meeting. July 18 is the last day of filing nomination papers for the contest. The term of the current Vice President Hamid Ansari ends on August 10.

Naidu was elected as an MLA to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly twice from Udayagiri constituency in 1978 and 1983 and rose to become one of the most popular leaders of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu is currently serving his fourth Rajya Sabha term, having been elected from Rajasthan in 2016. He was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in 1998, 2004, 2010.

Naidu will take on the opposition candidate, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in the VP polls.