Venkaiah Naidu to be third Telugu to become Vice President

Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, who was Monday named as NDA candidate for the post of Vice President, may become the third Telugu person to occupy the key constitutional post.

If elected, he will join the distinguished list that includes Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and V. V. Giri.

Born in Chavatapalem in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 1, 1949, Venkaiah Naidu appears set to be elected as the next Vice President given the NDA's strength in parliament, which forms the electoral college.

Radhakrishnan was the country's first Vice President. He held the post for two terms between 1952 and 1962 while Varahagiri Venkata Giri, popularly known as V. V. Giri was the Vice-President from 1967 to 1969.

Interestingly both Radhakrishnan and Giri went on to become the President.

Radhakrishnan, a philosopher and statesman was born into a Telugu family in a village near Thiruttani in the erstwhile Madras Presidency. Giri, a freedom fighter, was born in Telugu family in Berhampur, Odisha.

In 1977, another Telugu personality Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was elected as the President of India.

Venkaiah Naidu as the BJP leader had supported the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. As a Union Minister over last three years, he has been representing the interests of both Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

--IANS

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