Known for his keen political acumen and witty alliterations, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has been playing an active role in nation building for the past many decades.
Ever since he took over as the vice president and chairman of Rajya Sabha, Naidu has been a hard task master, ensuring debates take place in the upper house without much obstructions.
Naidu has given over 600 speeches after he took over as vice president 18 months ago.
A compendium of vice president's selected speeches, 'Selected Speeches: Volume-1', has been brought out by the publication division of the information and broadcasting ministry, a portfolio earlier held by Naidu in the Modi government. The book was released by former president Pranab Mukherjee.
Both Naidu and Mukherjee rued deterioration of the functioning of Parliament as a lot of time was lost due to protests and disruptions. "What could have been a platform for debate has become a platform of confrontation. Debate was given a rebate," Naidu said, referring to recent disruptions in Rajya Sabha.
"It is betrayal of people's faith and mandate," the Rajya Sabha chairman further said.
Mukherjee too lamented how the functioning of Parliament is constantly affected by frequent disruptions and said there has been an unfortunate trend of undermining the Parliament in the past decade. "Competitive and confrontational politics is responsible for disruption of Parliament, " Mukherjee said, quoting Naidu.
He also pointed out a few shortcomings in the functioning of the Parliament, including how there has been no increase in number of seats for several decades, inadequate number of women members and lack of parliamentary oversight.
"His (Naidu) vision of new India is built on two things: inclusivity and sustainability," Mukherjee said
Naidu recalled his initial days as the vice president of the country. "I was a 24×7 politician. So, when I became vice president, I could not adjust to systems and customs of the office. But I decided to continue with my interactions. I chose four groups—students and academicians, scientists, farmers, and cultural and public bodies," Naidu said.
Talking about his vision, Naidu said whenever he visits any place, he recalls the country's glorious past. "But we cannot stay in past only....We need to change with the changing time," he added.
Mukherjee also recalled his association with Naidu since 1998.
Naidu began his legislative journey when he was elected as MLA from Andhra Pradesh in 1978.
As the function came a day after Pulwama terror attack, all speakers invoked the sacrifices of the CRPF personnel.
