Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu was today sworn-in as the 13th Vice President of India. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind. The swearing in ceremony took place at the historic Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues, members of both houses of the Parliament and other dignitaries were present on this occasion. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former President Pranab Mukherjee were conspicuous by their absence at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Vice President of India.
Before taking oath as the Vice President, 68-year-old M Venkaiah Naidu visited Rajghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. After that, he garlanded the statue of former Bharatiya Jansangh President Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Naidu then proceeded to Patel Chowk where he paid floral tributes to the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
After taking oath as the Vice President, Venkaiah Naidu arrived in Rajya Sabha at 11am. He is running the proceedings of the House today as its new Chairman. Today is the last day of the Monsoon Session of the Upper House of the Parliament.
On August 5, M Venkaiah Naidu was elected as the new Vice-President of India by defeating opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi with a huge margin. While Naidu received 516 votes, Gandhi could manage only 244 votes.
Prior to his election as the new Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu was a member of the Narendra Modi cabinet and was holding the crucial portfolios of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
“Coming from an agricultural background, I never imagined I would be here. Agriculture has no proper voice in Indian polity. I will seek to utilise the vice presidential institution to strengthen the hands of the president and secondly uphold the dignity of the Upper House,” Venkaiah Naidu said after he was elected as the new Vice President of the country.
