The 64-year-old Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu had previously held the Rural Development portfolio during 2000-02 in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government.
The three-time Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka made a mark with many schemes and is known for implementing the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’. He also tried involving corporates in rural development projects.
Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Venkaiah Naidu is well known for his one-liners and repartee with ease in English, Hindi and Telugu and is savvy with the media.
A law graduate from the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Naidu steadily rose in the ranks of the BJP from the State unit President to the National President during 2002-2004. He was elected to the AP Legislative Assembly twice during 1978-83 and 1983-85 from Udayagiri in Nellore district.
He has been a strong force for the BJP in the State and was instrumental in forging the alliance with the Telugu Desam Party. The TDP was one of the big regional parties to ally with the NDA in a pre-poll tie up. The alliance romped home to a comfortable victory in the recent Assembly elections.
Venkaiah Naidu also played a significant role in fighting for the people of Seemandhra during the bifurcation discussion in the Rajya Sabha.