BJP for consensus on President

No name proposed yet, says Venkaiah Naidu

Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu expected the election of President to be a smooth affair as the BJP was trying for a consensus among all like-minded parties on the candidate.

The party did not propose any candidate so far as the stage was not yet set since the election notification was not issued, Mr. Naidu told a media conference here today. He said the Opposition led by the Congress was in confusion over its Presidential candidate having initially announced seeking re-election of Pranab Mukherjee and then announcing the names of Sharad Pawar and Gopalakrishna Gandhi. The BJP did nothing of the sort.

Mr. Naidu took exception to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi talking about family rule at the public meeting at Sangareddy and said it was actually Congress which was the perpetrator of dynastic politics in the country. Other parties took inspiration from the Congress.

He also blamed the Opposition for dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as authoritarian and said the parties did it out of frustration and despair as Mr. Modi effectively planned and executed ‘one India’ programmes. The mood of the nation was to go with India. This was disclosed in all surveys.

India was one nation and one people but the Opposition aimed to divide it. The BJP was committed to constructing a new India where there was no place for corruption and all sections of people realised the fruits of development.

Cattle movement

On the controversy over movement of cattle, he said it was proposed to be regulated on orders of Supreme Court and the same was put on website to get feedback of public. The Centre will examine doubts expressed by individuals and State governments.

He denied any attempts to promote vegetarianism in the country. The Centre will not interfere in the food habits of people as it was personal to them.