“A man is known for what he makes out of his life today, rather than dwell on the past glory”. This certainly is true in case of one - Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, a small kid from Nellore, who is now the face of the biggest political party in our nation. With an image of a national leader and controversies around him including that of rise and fall of BJP - his journey is nothing short of a political drama movie or series.
Here’s the story about a small town leader who grew up to be the Vice Presidential candidate for the ruling national party in India. “Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu” an amazing orator and a witty leader was born on 1st July, 1949. He was just another regular kid from Nellore district, who fancied Kabaddi and joined “RSS” just for the sake of playing this sport. From there, his exceptional leadership qualities and fighting spirit secured his fate as a leader.
He was strongly attracted to Jai Prakash Narayan who led the “Sampoorna Kranthi” movement and was strongly influenced with Lok Nayak (JP’s) views. With his inspiration, he actively participated in 1972 “Jai Andhra Movement”. Naidu was also the convenor of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan’s Yuvajana Chatra Sangharsha Samithi (AP) from 1974-1977. And later in the year 1977, Naidu was elected as the president of Yuva Morcha (BJP youth wing) and held the position for 3 consecutive years. Soon, he was the candidate for BJP’s Udayagiri constituency.
His strong oratory skills and zeal to learn Hindi helped be organized and speak in rallies and meetings held in north India. Also, Naidu is one of the few leaders from south India to learn and speak Hindi during this period.
Here's a glance at his political career: 1. 1973–74 : President, Students Union, Andhra University 2. 1974: Convener, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Yuvajana Chatra Sangharsha Samithi. 3. 1977–80 : President, Youth Wing of Janata Party, Andhra Pradesh 4. 1978–85 : Member, Legislative Assembly, Andhra Pradesh (2 terms) 5. 1980–85 : Leader, B.J.P Legislative Party in Andhra Pradesh 6. 1985–88: General Secretary, Andhra Pradesh State B.J.P. 7. 1988-93: President, Andhra Pradesh State B.J.P. 8. 1993 –2000 : National general secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party 9. Since 1998 : Member, Rajya Sabha From Karnataka (3 terms) 10. 30 September 2000 to 1 July 2002 : Minister of Rural Development, Government of India 11. 1 July 2002 to 5 October 2004 : National President, Bharatiya Janata Party 12. April 2005 onwards: National Vice-President, Bharatiya Janata Party. 13. 26 May 2014 – July 2017: Union minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs 14. July 2017: Vice President Candidate for Bharatiya Janata Party.
Though his stand and opinion during state bifurcation and Special Status movement has garnered a bit negative image for him as well as the party, he particularly held together BJP much before the arrival of MODI wave and is now in the race for a post he is touted to be deserving as an ample leader.
