Some interesting facts about Venkaiah Naidu, the 13th Vice-President of India

Former union minister and veteran BJP leader Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu took oath as the 13th Vice President of India on Friday. Naidu won the vice presidential election last week after defeating Gopalkrishna Gandhi who was fielded by the Opposition.

Here are some interesting facts about the BJP leader:

• Born in Nellore in 1949, Naidu is the third from Andhra Pradesh to be elected Vice-President of India.
• Venkaiah Naidu hails from an agricultural background.
• He is the only BJP Vice President of India
• Naidu is the only Vice President to be born after Independence
• His interest in politics was ever since his college days in 1971. He became an active part of the 'Sangh' parivaar by joining the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) that year. Two years later, he was sworn in as the University Union President of Andhra University.
• Naidu was imprisoned during the Emergency
• Naidu was the second politician from Andhra Pradesh and third from South India to have sworn in as the party president of BJP.
• He has been elected as a member of Rajya Sabha four times - thrice from Andhra Pradesh and once from Rajasthan.
• He has been elected in the union ministry twice - once under former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and once under the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
• He has formed a trust called the 'Swarna Bharat Trust' - a social service organization that works for the development of the downtrodden and poor.

OneIndia News