Shri Venkaiah Naidu
I endorse whatever has been spoken here by my esteemed and senior colleagues including the PM and Leader of Opposition. Nevertheless I stand here with the bounden duty to place the appreciation , gratitude and best wishes of my party , CPIM on records .
We are from the opposite side of the ideological spectrum, but sir ..have no hesitation in lauding your clarity of conviction .
You belong to the category of those statesmen with an organic thought process . What has impressed me the most … u as a person is a living example of the great diversity of this country and the underlying thread of unity .
When there is a chorus which is shriller and louder , for uniformity in behaviour, culture , belief , language and and even food , Naidu stands tall as a lamp post of the rich diversity that the country is and should be proud of .
Even his spotless Dravidian attire itself is a profound statement.
As a journalist I have observed his shifting of base from Andhra and positioning himself into the vortex of Delhi politics . He is a king of hospitality, I would relish those days when we had sumptuous non veg meals both at his home and BJP office. Prawns and cooks used to fly from Vijayawada. Many journalists covering BJP are pleasantly surprised about the Menu then ! Naddaji who is sitting here may note this point !
I think Shri Venkaiah Naidu would go down in history as the President the great nation missed .
From my three decades of covering and observing Rajysabha from in and out .. can’t think of chairman so involved in the nitty-gritties of Rajya Sabha. May be you are a self-made man who rose from the ranks, became an MLA at a young age in Andhra twice and MP , Minister and more over an organisational man – your journey has been long and gruelling, with many twists and turns . So sir you did acquire the moorings to understand even the minutest emotion of a member in the House .
You were cut for parliamentary democracy- and you are leaving at a time when parliament democracy needed you more . You might disagree with us but always had respected our right to hold that view and express it .
There are many parties which maybe insignificant in numbers. But you had the conviction that their voices are relevant and vital to the existence of this nation as a plural polity.
Sir , If I don’t speak about my personal experience and express my profound sense of gratitude, I would be failing in my duty .
After my maiden speech, on the following day , in the morning , I got a call from the VP’s house. I was pleasantly surprised but also was concerned if had done any mistake. After a couple of minutes the familiar sound came on the other side. It said, “though I have some disagreements with some of your points, you made a wonderful speech. You did so much of homework and I congratulate you for that… I was struggling for words as to what to say !
You didn’t stop there . You said you were so sad that you read all the morning papers and none of it gave line of what I spoke in the House . You said you don’t know how the Malayalam media handled the speech. His apprehension was right, apart from one or two exceptions, the entire Malayalam media had ignored it.
I never mentioned this conversation to anyone, not even to my wife. But the hon’ble VP didn’t stop with the telephone conversation. Two days after, he mentioned this in a public function reiterating his appreciation. It was a perfect indictment of the present day journalism obsessed with the trivia, frivolous and sensationalism.
The other day I met him along with senior MPs Elamaram Kareem, Thiruchi Siva, Binoy Viswam. You were full of reminiscences about the contributions of legendary communist leaders like AKG, Jyotirmoy Basu, Bhupesh Gupta, Indrajit Gupta and Somnath Chatterjee. And u said said ,though u don’t agree with the ideology the presence of the left is vital to the country and democracy.
People are fond of your word play . Some of them would go down in history. No one could beat you in word play. Media cannot report about you without that facit but I am of the view that those phrases stood out because of your immense clarity of thought . My nation first , party next and self last !
The way you quoted renowned Tamil poet Bharathiyaar at a school inauguration in Chennai is in firmly placed in my heart – it is more virtuous to educate a child than to build a thousand temples (aalayam) or set up thousands of feeding centres (anna chathiram) !
You have set a benchmark, elevating the institution. That would be a matter of inspiration for your successor . We all know u will be active in public life . That’s your oxygen ! And many a man has exalted to greatness when they relinquished the chair ! As Gandhiji said ; Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment. Wish you the best for all your future endeavours!
Thank you
കൈരളി ന്യൂസ് വാട്സ്ആപ്പ് ചാനല് ഫോളോ ചെയ്യാന് ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക
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