Venkaiah Naidu sworn in as Vice President

Newly-elected Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu took over as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha soon after taking oath as the 13th Vice-President of India.

He was sworn in on Friday as the Vice President of India.

President Ramnath Kovind administered the oath of office to Naidu at a brief ceremony in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan attended by political leaders cutting across party lines.

Welcoming the new Rajya Sabha Chairman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Venkaiah Naidu is the first Vice-President of the country who was born in an independent India.” He added that all the experience as a Rajya Sabha member will help Naidu in taking charge of the proceedings in the House. “He is the only Vice-President to hold the high office who is aware of all the proceedings of the parliament from his long experience,” Modi said.

Modi added that Naidu \ always focused on issues related to rural development and farmers. “Even when he was Cabinet Minister of Urban Development, he was more interested to stress on rural and farmers’ issues,” the prime minister said.

Leader of Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad congratulated Naidu for becoming the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Azad said that when a political leader becomes a vice-president of India, he becomes a non-party person. “You have been given a rare opportunity to do justice, without any bias in mind,” he said.