(FE)
M Venkaiah Naidu visited Raj Ghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on Friday morning, according to ANI report. The former Union Minister will take oath as the Vice President of India today. Naidu also paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Deen Dayal Upadhaya in the national capital. Naidu, whose candidature was backed by BJP-led NDA, won the election on August 5 after bagging an overwhelming two-third votes against opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The 68-year-old BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh had received 516 votes out of the total 771 votes cast while Gandhi could only manage 244 votes. Of the total 771 votes polled, 11 were found to be invalid.
Yesterday the term of the Hamid Ansari ended. Naidu will be the 13th person to hold the second highest constitutional post, according to PTI report. By virtue of being the vice president, Naidu will also preside over the Rajya Sabha as the Chairman. Following the oath taking of Naidu, persons holding the three top positions in the country –the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister — would come from the BJP.
