The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance’s candidate for vice president Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday filed his nomination papers. He told reporters that he had resigned from the Council of Ministers and written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about it on Monday night, PTI reported.
Calling it a painful moment, Naidu said he had also quit the BJP. “I lost my mother at a very young age and treated my party as my mother instead,” he said. “It brought me up to this level.”
The vice presidential candidate further said that he wanted to see Modi win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He added that while he had planned on taking up some social service projects, he had agreed to contest the election after a discussion with his party leaders.
The former Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting minister said he would continue as an MP. As the vice president, he said he will uphold the standards set by his predecessors and maintain the dignity of office.
Meanwhile, the Opposition choice for vice president Gopalkrishna Gandhi also filed his nomination papers on Tuesday.
The vice presidential election will be held on August 5.
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