M Venkaiah Naidu finally toes party line

Chennai: Just a couple of days ago when Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu was wondering who could be the country’s next vice-president, BJP chief Amit Shah asked him why couldn’t he hold the second highest political but ceremonial post in the country.

A perplexed Venkaiah stood in consternation. Before he could put his mind to the proposal by the BJP president, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broached the topic with him, reflecting the seriousness with which the powerful duo of the contemporary Indian politics was considering his name for the crucial post.

Venkaiah’s experience as an aggressive parliamentary affairs minister and his constant habit of putting the Opposition on the mat on several issues, highly placed sources say, were the key factors that weighed on the minds of Mr Modi and Mr Shah for the post of vice-president, who would also be the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP still does not enjoy majority.

Being a South Indian also weighed in favour of Mr Naidu as the BJP tries to make inroads into south of Vindhyas.

The BJP top brass, the sources pointed out, had been consistent from the beginning that the vice-president pick should be a “consummate politician” who could handle the Opposition in the Upper House. Even in 2002, the then PM A.B. Vajpayee had chosen Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who was then a three-time chief minister from Rajasthan.

Outspoken both inside and outside the party forum, Mr Naidu, the sources said, put forth his perspective about the proposal and that he would want to continue serving people continuing in active politics. “I have been in active politics for the past 40 years since being attracted to Jan Sangh during my student days,” Mr Naidu is understood to have told both the Prime Minister and the BJP president.

But, having worked with the powerful duo for a very long time, Mr Naidu knew that their decision was final and it was he who should be taking the call now. “The discussions between Mr Naidu and party seniors have been going for the past four-five days and a final decision was taken only on Monday,” the sources told this newspaper.

Mr Naidu, sources said, also made it clear during the discussions that he would also toe the party line and would never go against the wishes of the leadership. Mr Modi has been quite vocal in his effusive praise about Mr Naidu’s role as parliamentary affairs minister from May 2014 to July 2016.

“He had his own reservations but finally he accepted to be the vice-president pick of the BJP since he wanted to respect the decision taken by the top brass of the party,” a person close to the to-be vice-president said.