The man who said he was content being ‘Usha Pati’ (the husband of his wife, Usha) and had no aspirations for Upa-Rastrapathi, is all set to succeed Mohammed Hamid Ansari as India’s 13th Vice-President.
Known for his punchy, and sometimes sarcastic, one-liners, 68-year-old Muppavarpu Venkaiah Naidu is the quintessential politician. In a career spanning over 50 years, Venkaiah has worked his way up the BJP’s ranks to become its President, and has remained loyal through thick and thin.
Born on July 1, 1948 to an agricultural family of Chavatapalem in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, Venkaiah has remained in public limelight and high political echelons despite not having a mass base. He has always found his way to Parliament with Rajya Sabha nominations from different States, but never his home State of AP.
Venkaiah’s entry into politics was action-packed, coinciding as it did with the Emergency. He was studying Law at Andhra University when he had to go to jail. In 1978, he was elected to the AP Assembly from Udayagiri in Nellore, and was re-elected in 1983. After this, Venkaiah could hardly win elections and he was a natural choice for the Legislative Council, where he made a mark with his debates and views on public issues.
Political angle Sections within the BJP and Opposition see the decision to nominate Venkaiah for V-P as another shrewd move by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo to consolidate their hold over the party. Though he enjoys good equations with both Shah and Modi, Venkaiah is perceived as being a leader from the Vajpayee-Advani lineage. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha among others have already been sidelined.
However, after the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Modi inducted Venkaiah, a popular BJP spokesperson, into his Cabinet as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister: he was seen as acceptable to all parties, affable and easily accesible. He also held charge of the all-important Urban Development Ministry.
But, with the BJP neither able to muster enough strength nor push through legislations in the Upper House, Modi moved Venkaiah to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry to tap his multi-lingual, oratorical skills. He was the most visible and vocal face for the BJP, which was desperate to make inroads in the South. It was a common sight to see Venkaiah involved in friendly talk with the chief ministers and political leaders of all the southern States.
Hopes and implications As Vice-President — with absolute majority in Parliament, his election is nearly a foregone conclusion — , Venkaiah will be the ex-officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, which the BJP does not dominate. The BJP will look to Venkaiah to get important Parliamentary business going smoothly. The former Union Minister is equally fluent in English, Telugu and Hindi.
In the Telugu States Venkaiah played an important role in the BJP forging an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party, both during the NT Rama Rao’s time and that of current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. With the latter, his excellent rapport saw the alliance’s ties grow during the six-year NDA-1 rule under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Throughout the turbulent phase of Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation, and the creation of Telangana, Venkaiah was a key player. His arguments in favour of a special status for the new State of AP, a package of incentives and investments for the State during the 2014 debate in the Rajya Sabha continues to draw praise and flak in equal measure.