Politics
11:40, 06-Aug-2017
Modi’s party candidate elected as new vice president of India
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Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, candidate of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was confirmed as the country's new vice president on Saturday.
Such result enabled the ruling party to boost its standing in Naidu's southern home region where it had been lacking a broad support base.
Naidu, 68, from Andhra Pradesh was former president of the BJP. He defeated opposition nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, by a wide margin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party chief congratulated Naidu on his win.
The position of vice president is largely ceremonial under India's constitution, in which the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues wield executive power.
However, the vice president is also the speaker of the upper house of parliament where Modi's ruling coalition lacks a majority and has faced problems in passing legislation.