Institution of vice president has got its own importance: Venkaiah Naidu

Naidu filed his nomination in  presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders. Senior most BJP leaders like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi accompanied their candidate.

Thanking the leaders of the party, Naidu said: "I am grateful to Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and other ally partners of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."

He even thanked other parties who lent their support to him in the race to become the vice president. "I thank other parties too, like AIADMK, TRS, YSR Congress, for supporting me."

Though not revealed the name, the former I&B minister, Naidu, hinted that there could be some more parties who would come forward to support him.

Naidu was named as the vice presidential candidate of NDA on Monday.

He was in the charge of the Information and Broadcasting and urban development ministries in the Modi government.

Naidu served the saffron party for long years in his life and also was the national president of the BJP between 2002-2004.

Paying tribute to the party he belongs, the former BJP president said: "I treated my party as a mother. They brought me up to this level."

Naidu, who has good terms with several opposition leaders, upheld the importance of the parliamentary form of democracy. While interacting with the media, he said "India's strength and beauty lies in the parliamentary democracy."

The vice presidential poll is going to be a contest between Naidu and the Opposition's candidate Gopal Krishna Gandhi, who was the former West Bengal governor.

Naidu's win is likely to be easier since NDA bags the required number of electoral votes.

The vice-president of India is elected by the members of the parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) in accordance with the system of proportional representation.

Images: Official Twitter handle of Venkaiah Naidu.