NDA nominates Venkaiah Naidu as vice-presidential candidate

NEW DELHI: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu has been named the vice-presidential candidate of the ruling NDA coalition.
The BJP Parliamentary Board took the decision on Monday evening at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"BJP Parliamentary Board unanimously chose Venkaiah Naidu as our vice-presidential candidate and all NDA allies have welcomed this decision. He has also accepted the nomination," BJP president Amit Shah said at a press conference after the meeting.
"Naidu ji will file his nomination papers as the NDA's vice-presidential candidate tomorrow at 11am," Shah added.
Party sources said Naidu, who is currently serving as the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation as well as Information and Broadcasting, had emerged as the frontrunner in the nomination for vice-president.
The union minister has assisted and accompanied NDA presidential candidateRam Nath Kovind during his campaign in various states. The BJP is keen to have a vice-presidential candidate representing one of the southern states, where it wants to strengthen its presence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Naidu was admired across the political spectrum and was a fitting candidate for the office of vice-president. Naidu's vast experience as a peoples' representative will help him discharge the role of Rajya Sabha chairperson, PM Modi said in series of tweets following the announcement.

The vice-presidential election will be held on August 5 and the last date for filing of nominations is July 18.
An alliance of 18 opposition parties, including the Congress, has already announced Gopalkrishna Gandhi as its candidate for the vice-presidential poll.
The electoral college for the election consists of 790 MPs of the two chambers of Parliament. Since the ruling NDA enjoys an overwhelming majority in the electoral college, the BJP has expressed confidence about their candidate garnering anywhere between 500-550 votes.
The term of Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is also ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, ends on August 10.
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