VP Venkaiah Naidu To Host Tea Party In Honour Of Retiring Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien on July 1

In another first, Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, will be hosting a special gathering to bid farewell to the outgoing Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, PJ Kurien. As a special gesture to PJ Kurien, who retires on the 30th June, 2018, a tea party is being organized at the Vice President's House in the national capital on July 1. 

Invitees to this selective gathering include LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leaders of all political parties along with Deputy Leaders of House, Chief Whips of all parties, Parliamentary Affairs Ministers and several senior Ministers in the government including the likes of Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Prakash Javadekar have been invited. 

Leader of the House, Arun Jaitley, who has also been sent an invite is currently recovering from a renal surgery, and is unlikely to be present. 

"This is not a custom but something which is done out of goodwill and gesture," a source in the Vice President's office confirms EXCLUSIVELY to Republic. "It was a thought and desire that was expressed by the VPI and in no time it was implemented," the source added. 

It was on August 5, 2017, when M Venkaiah Naidu senior a Union Minister in the Narendra Modi government was elected to become the Vice President of India where PJ Kurien has been Deputy Chairman of the Upper House. Kurien was elected to post of Deputy Chair on August 21, 2012. 

The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman's post falls vacant on July 2, 2018. 

The two have always shared a cordial relationship. Earlier Venkaiah Naidu had also served as Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the Modi government and is a multiple-time MP from the Upper House.

Update on August 11: On August 11, JD(U) Member of Parliament Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected as the new Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha as the NDA's candidate overcame the UPA's contestant BK Hariprasad.