M Venkaiah Naidu sworn in as 13th Vice President

Venkaiah Naidu takes oath, says Parliament needs to be run meaningfully

New Delhi: The swearing in of M Venkaiah Naidu as the 13th Vice-President of the country took place on Friday morning, beginning the second innings of his public life.

Naidu was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The function was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Naidu's immediate predecessor Hamid Ansari and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, veteran BJP leader L K Advani and party chief Amit Shah, among other distinguished people.

Naidu succeeds Hamid Ansari whose second consecutive tenure expired on Thursday. Naidu was elected Vice-President on August 5, defeating joint Opposition candidate Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

Naidu, who will assume the role of Rajya Sabha Chairman, was quoted in the media saying that we should be mature enough to run the Parliament in a smooth and meaningful manner. He said that the Chairman is duty-bound by the rules, procedures and conventions in his responsibilities of running the House. Disapproving the disruptions in the House on Thursday he said that it is for the Chair to enforce the rules but the members have to cooperate too.

More to follow...

(UNI)