Guess, who is VPMVN: The man backed by 'Maker of Developed India'

The new Vice-President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu — VPMVN, if you please — is a man who can show you more meaning in words than they seem to carry. Give him a word and he would turn it into an acronym, attaching a meaningful word to every letter.

Many would say his elevation to the top post is due to his revealing to the world the hidden meaning of Modi in our Prime Minister's name — “Maker Of Developed India”. It was liked so much by the BJP that a slight variation — "Making of Developed India" — became the official line of the Centre in its public outreach campaign.

PM Modi is himself a coiner of acronyms. He made a strategic use of his art during his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh when he described Samajwadi Party, the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati as SCAM. He knows an acronym like that would stick more than a verbose tirade against corrupt opponents.


Some may find Naidu's flare for turning regular words into acronyms childish, but he is clever enough to know what appeals to a young audience, a segment wooed by all politicians for the sheer number of youth among Indian voters.

A few months ago at Delhi’s Shri Ram College of Commerce, Naidu turned the word 'young' itself into an acronym, "You Owe U and Nation Greatness", to the delight of a students.

Both Modi and Naidu know what political communication means in times of Twitter and SMS when the youth is shrinking language into acronyms.

That's why Naidu's coinage often becomes a rage on Twitter, spawning humorous memes. "Message of Dr.APJ #AbdulKalam life to us all is that ‘Anything is Possible Just with Attitude and Karma’ (APJAK). karma means right action," Naidu tweeted on the death of India's former president recently and it drew a lot of people to parody him.

Naidu's acronyms have generated so much interest on Twitter that there is a parody account — @VenkronymNaidu — dedicated to coining acronyms. It mimics Naidu so well that once even Naidu's own ministry fell for it. The official page of the ministry retweeted a sly tweet from the parody account that was posted with a picture of the minister attending a function. It read: "Meeting Beneficiaries under MoHUPA: Ministry Of Helpful Ultra Powerful Acronyms."


A satirical twitter account had this to say when the news of Naidu's candidature came out:

Modiji: Any suggestions for VP?
Naidu: Vice Executive Needs Knowledgeable Acronymising Ingenuity And Handiness.
Modiji: Congratulations!


What does it mean to have Naidu as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha where he is not supposed to use too many words? Can he tame the unruly members during raucous debates with his acronyms? Or will he end up riling them more? Stay tuned to the Rajya Sabha channel.