From farmer’s son to Vice Prez, Venkaiah’s life journey inspiring: PM

Hyderabad: “The life journey of Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, who completed 75 years on Sunday, will remain a source of inspiration for the younger generations. His journey has many magnificent stopovers,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi after releasing three books on Naidu’s life journey and contribution to the nation as Vice President of India.

Praising Naidu's oratory, wit, alertness and spontaneity, the PM recalled the former’s comment of 'Ek hath me BJP ka jhanda aur doosre hath me NDA ka agenda' (BJP's flag in one hand and NDA's agenda in another hand) that is Venkaiah Naidu. Modi highlighted that one can imagine "the wealth of experience a person hailing from a small village may have gathered while holding such significant posts."

“During Naidu's tenure as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the bill to abolish Article 370 was passed with majesty, dignity and honour though the government did not have majority in the Upper House,” Modi said.

The journey of Naidu, from being a farmer's son to occupying high-ranking positions as Union Minister and Vice President, is filled with many experiences, the PM said. “Naidu chose to take up the Rural Development Ministry in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, despite being a senior in the party, as he wanted to serve the villages, farmers and the poor,” he said. During Naidu's tenure as the Urban Development Minister as his senior Cabinet colleague, several initiatives, including Swachh Bharat Mission and Smart Cities Mission, were started, Modi said and expressed happiness about the current state of the BJP and Jana Sangh in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as compared to how it was decades ago without any strong foundation. He said Naidu strived in his role as an ABVP Karyakarta with the ideology of “Nation First” and had made up his mind to achieve something for the nation.

The Prime Minister praised Naidu for fighting tooth and nail against the emergency imposed 50 years ago, despite being imprisoned for about 17 months, and underlined that Naidu was “one such braveheart who was tried and tested during the wrath of emergency. That is the reason he considers Naidu as a true friend.”

The Prime Minister said he was surprised by Venkaiah’s ruminations, compelling him to praise his style in the Rajya Sabha once, where he said that “there is depth, seriousness, vision, beat, bounce and wisdom in the former Vice-President’s words.”

The PM expressed confidence that when the country celebrates Viksit Bharat on the eve of its “century of freedom” in 2047, Naidu will celebrate his centennial milestone.

In his response, Naidu appreciated Modi’s endeavour for the country’s development. He said skill development is the need of the hour. “Development and welfare must go hand in hand. We should not be tempted by these freebies and then make the people lazy. You have been giving free ration to crores of people across the country. That should continue as long as it is required. But, at the same time, skill development is the need of the hour,” Naidu said and pleaded for promoting Indian languages.