Venkaiah Naidu to be sworn in as India’s 15th Vice President today

Former union minister M Venkaiah Naidu will take oath as the 15th Vice-President of India on Friday in New Delhi. Naidu, 68, will be administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He was elected to the post after he defeated Opposition vice-presidential candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi in the Vice-presidential polls which were held on August 8. “I am very humbled. I am also thankful to the Prime Minister and all party leaders for their support. 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,” Naidu said after his victory. On the eve of his swearing-in ceremony, Naidu challenged the views expressed by his predecessor Hamid Ansari who claimed that the Muslims in India were experiencing “a sense of uneasiness and insecurity.” “Compared to the entire world, minorities are more safe and secure in India and they get their due,” Naidu told media. He also asserted that India was the most tolerant and secular country in the world. “Indian ethos is of mutual respect for each other. People try to use minority issues for political purposes,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Targetting Ansari without naming him, Naidu also said: “India is the most tolerant country…Unfortunately, some people are trying to blow it out of proportion and trying to defame India, raising it to national forum.” Vice-presidential elections this year witnessed highest number of votes polled (771) for the post. A source told The Indian Express the highest votes ever cast in a vice-presidential election before this was 759, when BJP veteran Shekhawat was elected as the 11th vice-president in 2002. Bagging 67 per cent of the total votes polled, Naidu’s victory margin of 272 is also reported to be the highest in the last three decades. Source: Indian Express