Venkaiah, Gandhi file nominations for VP poll

3 dozen vice president hopefuls in fray

NDA nominee M Venkaiah Naidu and joint Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Tuesday filed their nomination papers for the vice presidential election. The two serious contenders, 68-year-old Naidu and 72-year-old Gandhi, submitted their papers on the last day to file the nominations, after nearly three dozen vice president hopefuls have done so.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, senior leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj among others accompanied Naidu as he submitted his nomination papers to Rajya Sabha Secretary General Shumsher Sheriff, the returning officer for the election.

Earlier, leaders of the NDA held a meeting at the library building in the Parliament House Complex and then walked to Sheriff’s office in the main building. Naidu quit as the Union minister for urban development, and information and broadcasting after Shah announced his candidature for the vice president election. He also quit from the BJP.

“On being elected, I will uphold traditions, standards set by the worthy predecessors and maintain dignity of office,” Naidu told reporters. Gandhi also submitted his nomination papers in the presence of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her deputy Rahul Gandhi, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav among others.

“I do not belong to any party. I am not here to oppose any person or party... I am here with all humility to place before electors, the aspirations of citizens,” Gandhi told the media. All members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including the nominated members, are eligible to vote in the vice presidential election.