Gopalkrishna Gandhi congratulates Venkaiah Naidu, says got votes beyond calculations

New Delhi: Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi congratulated his NDA rival nominee M. Venkaiah Naidu who was elected India's new Vice President on Saturday. "I congratulate him on his victory. I wish him all the best," Gandhi said, but added that the the number of votes he got was beyond certain calculations. He thanked the MPs, who comprise the electoral college of the vice-presidential election, and the parties who had nominated him as their candidate. "I believe the numbers voted for me are beyond expectation of certain calculations. They represent different political persuasions, they come from different political parties of India. And they have come together to vote for what they thought was for the nation's good, which is the affirmation of the right to free thought, free speech, the right to hold a different opinion and the duty to serve cause of pluralism and secularism in India," he said. Gandhi, who was candidate of Congress and some major opposition parties, got 244 votes compared to 516 received by Naidu. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi too extended best wishes to Vice-President-elect M Venkaiah Naidu and extended her party's support in further strengthening the Rajya Sabha for effective scrutiny of legislations and government policies. "The position of vice-president has the crucial challenge of assuming a non-partisan role in running 'The House of Elders' which acts as a storehouse of wisdom and sage advice for the government. The House of Elders is an important determinant of our democratic functioning to address appropriate checks and balances," she said in her message. By virtue of being vice-president, Naidu will also preside over the Rajya Sabha as its chairman. The 68-year-old BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh was on Saturday elected as India's next vice-president, securing an overwhelming two-third of the votes against opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. As he bids adieu to politics, vice president-elect M Venkaiah Naidu will be remembered for his contribution in some of the flagship schemes of the Modi government such as Smart City Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana undertaken by the housing and urban affairs ministry. Naidu piloted a year-long consultations with state governments and other stakeholders before launching new urban missions, an exercise people close to him said was based on his "belief in cooperative federalism". Besides Smart City Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Naidu will be remembered for floating schemes such as Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). (With inputs from agencies)