Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s continuous encouragement to the youth of the country in all the roles he undertook in public life. He always promoted young Members in the House also.
“As our Vice President, you devoted a lot of time to youth welfare. A lot of your programmes were focused on Yuva Shakti”, he added. The Prime Minister noted that 25 percent of the Vice President speeches, outside the House, were among the youth of India.
Modi participated in the farewell to Venkaiah Naidu in Rajya Sabha and paid rich tributes to the Vice President, who is ex-officio Chairman of the Upper House. He underlined his close association with Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu in various capacities.
He appreciated the Vice President’s ideological commitment as party worker, work as MLA, activity level as a parliamentarian, organizational skills as the President of BJP, his hard work and diplomacy as Minister and his dedication and dignity as the Vice President and the Chairman of the House.
“I have worked with Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu Ji closely over the years. I have also seen him take up different responsibilities and he performed each of them with great dedication”, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister said that people in public life can learn a lot from Venkaiah Naidu.
In his farewell speech, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said, the Upper House has a greater responsibility as the entire world is watching India. He appealed to the members to maintain decency, dignity and decorum of the House.
Naidu said people want the House to discuss and debate, and they do not want disruption. He said, he tried to accommodate all sides and did his best to fulfill his responsibilities as the Chairman. Highlighting the importance of the mother language, he said, it should be used at every level extensively.
Recalling the political career of Venkaiah Naidu, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, he remained a member of the Rajya Sabha for 19 years. He said, Naidu remained active in politics from his student life. He lauded Naidu for discharging his responsibilities efficiently under pressure. He said, Naidu also spoke about consensus on the Women’s Reservation Bill and other issues.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, Naidu treated all the members equally and gave them equal opportunity in the House. Deputy Chairman Harivansh said, the kind of conviction, Mr. Naidu had for his ideology and to discharge his responsibilities, is a lesson for everyone. He hailed the Chairman for his support and guidance.
Derek O’ Brien of TMC said that Rajya Sabha’s productivity has increased during his tenure, Tiruchi Siva of DMK said,. Naidu gave the opportunity to the members to speak in their mother tongue.
Dr. Manoj Jha of RJD said, the tradition of dialogue must be continued. AAP MP Raghav Chadha said, the Chairman is an inspiration for the younger generation. Vandana Chavan of NCP said, Naidu encouraged members to speak in their mother tongue and imbibed discipline among them.
Several MPs also spoke at length about the role and responsibilities discharged by Mr. Naidu. These include Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Parshottam Rupala and Ramdas Athawale and M. Thambidurai of AIADMK, Sanjay Singh of AAP, Dr. John Brittas of CPI(M), Binoy Viswam of CPI, PT Usha, V Vijaysai Reddy of YSR Congress and Sasmit Patra of BJD.
