NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Bharatiya Janata Party national council today ratified the appointment of M Venkaiah Naidu as party president amid chants of Vande Mataram.
Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and party delegates approved Naidu's name proposed by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani by raising their hands at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi at the daylong meeting of the Council.
The new BJP president was then presented shawls by the prime minister and his deputy.
He is the third successive BJP president from the South and the second from Andhra Pradesh in the last three years.
Venkaiah Naidu is the youngest person and the first from the post-independence era to don the mantle of the BJP's leadership.
Special invitees present at the function included members from National Democratic Alliance partners like the Janata Dal (United), Samata Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Lok Dal, and Pattali Makkal Katchi.
Tell us what you think of this report
