Venkaiah Naidu

In this Telugu name, the family name is Muppavarapu.

M. Venkaiah Naidu
File:Venkaiah Naidu official portrait.jpg Official portrait, 2017
13th Vice President of India
In office 11 August 2017 – 11 August 2022
President	Ram Nath Kovind Droupadi Murmu
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Succeeded by	Jagdeep Dhankhar
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs
In office 6 July 2017 – 17 July 2017
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Girija Vyas
Succeeded by	Narendra Singh Tomar
Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting
In office 5 July 2016 – 17 July 2017
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Arun Jaitley
Succeeded by	Smriti Irani
Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
In office 26 May 2014 – 6 July 2017
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Kamal Nath
Succeeded by	Narendra Singh Tomar
Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
In office 26 May 2014 – 5 July 2016
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Kamal Nath
Succeeded by	Ananth Kumar
7th National President of Bharatiya Janata Party
In office 1 July 2002 – 5 October 2004
Preceded by	Jana Krishnamurthi
Succeeded by	L. K. Advani
Union Minister for Rural Development
In office 30 September 2000 – 30 June 2002
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Sunder Lal Patwa
Succeeded by	Kashiram Rana
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 5 July 2016 – 10 August 2017
Preceded by	Anand Sharma
Succeeded by	Alphons Kannanthanam
Constituency	Rajasthan
In office 27 March 1998 – 5 July 2016
Preceded by	H. D. Deve Gowda
Succeeded by	Nirmala Sitharaman
Constituency	Karnataka
3rd State President of Bharatiya Janata Party United Andhra Pradesh
In office 1988–1993
National President	L. K. Advani Murli Manohar Joshi
Preceded by	Bangaru Laxman
Succeeded by	V. Rama Rao
Member of Legislative Assembly United Andhra Pradesh
In office 1978–1985
Preceded by	Ponneboyina Chenchuramaiah
Succeeded by	Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy
Constituency	Udayagiri
Personal details
Born	Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (1949-07-01) 1 July 1949 Chavatapalem, Madras Province, Dominion of India (present-day Andhra Pradesh, India)
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)	Usha Naidu (m. 1970)
Children	2
Residence	1 Tyagaraja Marg, New Delhi 29, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad
Alma mater	Andhra University (LLB)
Awards	Padma Vibhushan (2024)
Signature	Venkaiah Naidu's signature

Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting in the Modi Cabinet.

Naidu has also served as the national president of Bhartiya Janta 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, the 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 the corruption 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.

Political career

File:Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu taking charge as the Union Minister for Urban Development, in New Delhi on May 28, 2014.jpg

Venkaiah Naidu taking charge as the Union Minister for Urban Development in New Delhi on 28 May 2014

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'.

President of BJP (2002–04)

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.

Minister of Urban Affairs

File:Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu taking charge as the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, in New Delhi on May 28, 2014.jpg

Venkaiah Naidu taking charge as the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in New Delhi on 28 May 2014

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 Presidency (2017–2022)

File:The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind administering the oath of office of the Vice President to Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, at a Swearing-in-Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on August 11, 2017.jpg

Swearing of Vice President-elect Venkaiah Naidu at Rashtrapati Bhavan Durbar Hall, 11 August 2017

File:The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu assuming office at the Vice President Secretariat, in New Delhi on August 11, 2017.jpg

The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu assuming office at the Vice President Secretariat, in New Delhi on 11 August 2017

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.

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
• File:Farewell of outgoing Vice President.jpg

  Naidu at his farewell ceremony as vice president at New Delhi in August 2022.
  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

Awards and honours

State honours

• Comoros: Commander of the Order of the Green Crescent of the Comoros (3 August 2019)

• India: 50px Padma Vibhushan (2024)

Honorary degrees

• University for Peace: Honorary Doctorate (Honoris causa) (8 March 2019)

External links

• Detailed Profile: Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu Archived 30 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• Venkaiah Naidu on Twitter
• Venkaiah Naidu's Indian Express Column

Preceded by Ponneboyina Chenchuramaiah	Member of the Legislative Assembly for Udayagiri 1978–1985	Succeeded by Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy
Rajya Sabha
Preceded by H. D. Deve Gowda	Member of Parliament for Karnataka 1998–2016	Succeeded by Nirmala Sitharaman
Preceded by Anand Sharma	Member of Parliament for Rajasthan 2016–2017	Succeeded by Alphons Kannanthanam
Political offices
Preceded by Sunder Lal Patwa	Minister of Rural Development 2000–2002	Vacant Title next held by Kashiram Rana
Preceded by Kamal Nath	Minister of Parliamentary Affairs 2014–2016	Succeeded by Ananth Kumar
	Minister of Urban Development 2014–2017	Succeeded by Narendra Singh Tomar
Preceded by Girija Vyas	Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation 2014–2017
Preceded by Arun Jaitley	Minister of Information and Broadcasting 2016–2017	Succeeded by Smriti Irani
Preceded by Mohammad Hamid Ansari	Vice President of India 2017–2022	Succeeded by Jagdeep Dhankhar
Party political offices
Preceded by Jana Krishnamurthi	President of the Bharatiya Janata Party 2002–2004	Succeeded by L. K. Advani
Preceded by Jaswant Singh	National Democratic Alliance nominee for Vice President of India 2017	Succeeded by Jagdeep Dhankhar