Vice President of India
Shri Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, born 1 July 1949, is an Indian politician who is the 13th and current Vice President of India, in office since 11th Aug, 2017. He served as the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting in the Modi Cabinet. A prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he also served as its national president from 2002 to 2004. Earlier, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Naidu was born on 1 July 1949 at Chavatapalem, in the Nellore district of the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. He completed schooling from V. R. High School, Nellore, and pursued his bachelor's degree in politics and diplomatic studies from V. R. College. 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 to the Andhra University. He came into 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 anti-corruption Jayaprakash Narayan Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti of Andhra Pradesh. He took to streets in protest against the emergency and was imprisoned. From 1977–80, he was president of its youth wing.
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 B.J.P.
- 1988–93 : President, Andhra Pradesh State B.J.P.
- 1993–September 2000 : National General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party
- Secretary, B.J.P. Parliamentary Board
- Secretary, B.J.P. Central Election Committee
- Spokesperson of the B.J.P.
- 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
- Since April 2005: 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–Till Date: Vice President-elect of India
The Vice-President of India is the second-highest constitutional office in India after the President. Article 63 of Indian Constitution states that "there shall be a Vice-President of India." The Vice-President acts as President in the absence of the President due to death, resignation, impeachment, or other situations.
The Vice-President of India is also ex officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. When a bill is introduced in Rajya Sabha, vice-president decides whether it is a financial bill or not. If he is of the opinion, a bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha is a money bill, he would refer the case to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for deciding it.
Article 66 of the Indian Constitution states the manner of election of the Vice-President. The Vice-President is elected indirectly by members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the Single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot conducted by election commission.
Qualifications
As in the case of the President, in order to be qualified to be elected as Vice-President, a person must:1. Have completed more than 35 years of age.
2. Not hold any office of profit.
While in order to be a President, a person must be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha (House of Peoples), the Vice-President must be qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States). This difference is because the Vice-President is to act as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Term
The Vice-President holds office for five years. The Vice-President can be re-elected any number of times. However, the office may be terminated earlier by death, resignation or removal. The Constitution does not provide a mechanism of succession to the office of Vice-President in the event of an extraordinary vacancy, apart from a re-election. However, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha can perform the Vice-President's duties as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in such an event.List of All Vice Presidents of India
| Vice President | Term Start | Term End | President |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu | Aug 11, 2017 | Till Date | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Mohammad Hamid Ansari | Aug 11, 2007 | Aug 11, 2017 | Pratibha Patil |
| Pranab Mukherjee | |||
| Bhairon Singh Shekhawat | Aug 19, 2002 | Jul 21, 2007 | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| Krishan Kant | Aug 21, 1992 | Jul 24, 1997 | Kocheril Raman Narayanan |
| Aug 21, 1997 | Jul 27, 2002 | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | |
| Kocheril Raman Narayanan | Sep 3, 1987 | Jul 24, 1992 | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Shankar Dayal Sharma | Sep 3, 1987 | Jul 24, 1992 | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Ramaswamy Venkataraman | Aug 31, 1984 | Jul 24, 1987 | Giani Zail Singh |
| Justice Muhammad Hidayatullah | Aug 31, 1979 | Aug 30, 1984 | Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| Basappa Danappa Jatti | Aug 31, 1974 | Aug 30, 1979 | Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| Gopal Swarup Pathak | Aug 31, 1969 | Aug 30, 1974 | Sh. Varahagiri Venkata Giri |
| Sh. Varahagiri Venkata Giri | May 13, 1967 | May 3, 1969 | Dr. Zakir Hussain |
| Dr. Zakir Hussain | May 13, 1962 | May 12, 1967 | Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | May 13, 1952 | May 12, 1962 | Dr. Rajendra Prasad |