Becoming Prime Minister was never my agenda nor was I qualified for the post, said Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu here on Sunday. “If I talk more about it, it reminds us of ‘sour grapes’ adage. I also knew that I was not qualified for that.”
On the contrary, he wishes to quit all public positions to dedicate himself to social service by the end of 2019. “I wish to come back to A.P. to render social service and I shared the same with my wife.”
Speaking to press persons at the Swarna Bharat Trust at Atkur village near here, he said 2017 was a remarkable year for him as he became the Vice-President.
“Nanaji Deshmukh, social activist from Chitrakut in Madhya Pradesh, is my inspiration. He rejected a Cabinet post in the Morarji Desai government and transformed over 500 villages in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh,” Mr. Naidu recalled.
Speaking about the aspirational India, he said the youth were expecting leadership to be more accountable and show progress.
“Over 65% of the people in the country are below 35. The game has changed now. Political leaders, parties and government machinery should realise that they need to move fast and deliver,” he said. Commenting on the members’ conduct in the House, he said cameras had become counter productive as they could not ensure ideal behaviour. “It’s proving otherwise. It’s a matter of concern for us. We need to fix it.” He also wanted the influence of caste, community and cash to be brought down in politics for a better India.
Focus on agriculture
He wanted the government to increase its spend and focus on public infrastructure and agriculture. Controlling the role of middlemen, facilitating more cold storage godowns and vans with high subsidy, uninterrupted water supply to agriculture and diversification of crops were the need of the hour.
“I wanted the government to prioritise these aspects and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it will be taken up as a top item in the agenda,” he said.
