Gopalkrishna Gandhi congratulates Venkaiah Naidu on winning Vice Presidential polls

New Delhi [India], Aug. 05 (ANI): Opposition nominee for Vice-President of India Gopalkrishna Gandhi congratulated National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu for winning Vice-Presidential polls. "I congratulate him on his victory and wish him all the best in his new office of Vice-President of India," Gopalkrishna Gandhi said. He also thanked to all the (Members of Parliament) MPs who have voted for him and said the votes he has received are beyond his expectation. "Thank those who voted for me. I was expecting handsome performance by united vote of opposition parties. The votes I have received are beyond certain calculations." Gandhi said. Gopalkrishna Gandhi has secured 244 votes. 760 votes were valid while 11 were invalid. 381 votes was the quota set to win the polls. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Naidu, expressing confidence that the former union minister will remain committed to the the goal of nation building. Naidu will be appointed as the Vice President on August 11th in a glittering ceremony. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister recalled his memories of working with Naidu in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Centre, adding that he will cherish this aspect of their association. Total 771 out of 785 MPs cast their votes today. However, it was revealed that 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) were not present during the voting process. Voting for Vice Presidential Election ended with a total poll percentage of 98.21%. The term of incumbent Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who held the position for two consecutive terms, will come to an end on August 10. The voting began at 10 a.m. earlier in the day. The Vice-President is selected through a secret ballot by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. (ANI)