“Everyday is a new day,” Hamid Ansari said about his nine-and-half years as Vice-President (two successive terms). However, they came with challenges that he has “enjoyed immensely.”
Mr. Ansari made these remarks to The Hindu at an on-board press conference on Friday as he was returning from a four-day visit to Rwanda and Uganda. His current term is to end in August 2017 and, after the ongoing set of Assembly elections, elections to the post of President and Vice-President are the biggest events in India’s political calendar this year.
“Everyday is a new day, so you live in this kind of a responsibility and you live with the challenges of the day. It has been a learning experience, a challenging nine-and-a-half years, and I have enjoyed it immensely,” he said. One of his main challenges has been the conduct of the Rajya Sabha, of which he is the Chairman by virtue of his position as the Vice-President.
Key role
It was his role as the presiding officer of the Upper House of Parliament that came into particular play during his visit to the two African countries.
In both countries, Rwanda and Uganda, the governments asked for more interactions between members of Parliament, a demand that he concurred with.
“Members of Parliament play an important role in shaping and conveying the intent of policy to the people. If the government’s policy is to promote India-Africa friendship, then MPs need to convey this to the people,” he said. “In both countries, a demand for more parliament to parliament interaction came up. We were told that there was not enough of it, a view that I am in agreement with.”
“It is something that I will discuss with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha [Sumitra Mahjan] in order to take a view,” he said.
