Venkaiah Naidu files nomination for Vice-Presidential election

National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Vice-Presidential Candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday filed his nomination for the upcoming Vice-Presidential polls.

Naidu was accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, veteran leader L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and other NDA leaders, to file his nomination in the Parliament House.

Naidu will face Opposition candidate Gopalkrishan Gandhi in the race to become the next Vice-President of India.

As prominent leader of the BJP, Naidu has also served as its national president from 2002 to 2004.

Both as a student leader and political figure, Naidu gained prominence as a brilliant orator, who vigorously championed the cause of the farmers and the development of backward areas.

His oratory skills and political activism propelled his political career and he was elected as an MLA to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly twice from Udayagiri constituency in Nellore district in 1978 and 1983. He rose to become one of the most popular leaders of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh.

After having served in various organisational posts of the BJP at the state and national level, he was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in 1998.

He has since been re-elected twice in 2004 and 2010 from Karnataka.

The Vice-Presidential election will be held on August 5.