Venkaiah Naidu

Naidu has also served as the national president of Bharatiya Janata Party from 2002 to 2004. Earlier, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He took the oath as the vice president of India and the chairman of the Rajya Sabha (ex-officio as the Vice President) on 11 August 2017. In 2024, The Government of India honoured him with Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.

Early life

Venkaiah Naidu was born on 1 July 1949 at Chavatapalem village (near Venkatachalam) in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, to Rangaiah Naidu and Ramanamma. He completed his schooling from Zilla Parshad High School, Bucchireddy Palem (Nellore), and pursued his bachelor's degree in politics and diplomatic studies at V. R. College, Nellore. Later, he acquired a bachelor's degree in law with specialisation in international law from Andhra University College of Law, Visakhapatnam. He was a swayamsevak in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and joined ABVP during his college days. He was elected as the president of the students' union of colleges affiliated with the Andhra University. He came into the spotlight for his prominent role in the Jai Andhra Movement of 1972. While Kakani Venkata Ratnam led the movement from Vijayawada, Naidu took active part in the agitation in Nellore, until it was called off a year later.

In 1974, he became the convener of Jayaprakash Narayan Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti of Andhra Pradesh. He took to the streets in protest against the Emergency and was imprisoned. From 1977 to 1980, he was president of its youth wing.

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Political career

Both as a student leader and political figure, Naidu gained prominence as an orator who 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 Udaygiri 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 serving 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 was re-elected twice, in 2004 and 2010, from Karnataka. He served as the party spokesperson from 1996 to 2000, bringing to the job his panache for quirky alliterations and similes. Unlike most politicians from southern India, Naidu made an effort to master Hindi, going on to address public rallies in northern India.

After the NDA victory in the 1999 general elections, he became the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development in the government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was known for aggressively pushing for reforms in rural development and for the many schemes introduced during this period such as the 'Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana'.

National President of the BJP (2002–2004)

Naidu succeeded Jana Krishnamurthi as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2003. On 28 January 2004, he was elected unopposed for a full three-year term. After the defeat of the BJP-led NDA in the 2004 general elections, he resigned from his post on 18 October 2004 and was succeeded by L. K. Advani. However, he remained at the forefront of the BJP as one of its senior vice-presidents and an important campaigner. Naidu raised the "Special Status to Andhra Pradesh" issue in Rajya Sabha (as opposition member in February 2014) and demanded special category state status to Andhra Pradesh. The Prime Minister agreed to it, though it was not included in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

First Modi ministry (2014–2017)

Following the victory of the BJP in the 2014 general elections, he was sworn in as the Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs on 26 May 2014.

Naidu is also involved with the Swarna Bharat Trust, a social service organisation founded by him in Nellore. The trust runs a school for poor, orphaned and special-needs children and imparts self-employment training programsme, especially for women and youth.

He was nominated by the BJP on 29 May 2016 for the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan and was elected.

Vice President of India (2017–2022)

Vice Presidential election

On 5 July 2016, he concurrently served as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. A year later, he resigned from both offices to contest the 2017 vice presidential election. He won the election to become India's 13th Vice President. He obtained 516 votes against UPA candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who received 244 votes. As his tenure ended, Naidu decided to move back to Hyderabad with his family and declared that he will resume his career in the service of the nation. He was succeeded by Jagdeep Dhankhar on 11 August 2022.

Personal life

Naidu married Usha on 14 April 1972, with whom he has a son and a daughter. Usha served as the 13th Second lady of India.

Positions held

1973–74: President, Students' Union, Andhra University
1974: Convener, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Yuvajana Chatra Sangharsha Samithi, Andhra Pradesh
1977–80: President, Youth Wings of Janata Party, Andhra Pradesh
1978–85: Member, Legislative Assembly, Andhra Pradesh (2 terms)
1980–85: Leader, B.J.P Legislative Party in Andhra Pradesh
1985–88: General Secretary, Andhra Pradesh State BJP
1988–93: President, Andhra Pradesh State BJP
1993 – September 2000: National General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party
Secretary, BJP Parliamentary Board
Secretary, BJP Central Election Committee
Spokesperson of the BJP
Since 1998: Member, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka (3 terms)
30 September 2000 – 1 July 2002: Minister of Rural Development
1 July 2002 – 5 October 2004: National President, Bharatiya Janata Party
April 2005 - 10 August 2017: National Vice-president, Bharatiya Janata Party.
2014–2017: Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs
2016–2017: Minister of Information and Broadcasting
2017–2022: Vice President of India