Venkaiah Naidu’s Sunday Profile: End of Session

Naidu, although seen as a reluctant Vice-President, had plunged headlong into his Rajya Sabha function, enjoying referee with elan even when, in line with the Opposition, he blew the whistle far too typically on them.

While his critics say that regardless of his constitutional function, Naidu’s coronary heart by no means stopped beating for the BJP, a celebration he served for a number of a long time earlier than changing into Vice-President, they agree that he’s among the many most amiable chairpersons the Rajya Sabha has had, with mates on either side of the aisle. The annual lunches he hosts — with a selection of south Indian seafood and Hyderabadi dishes — is without doubt one of the most awaited occasions within the Capital’s political calendar, with leaders throughout events in attendance.

Born at Chavatapalem in SPS Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 1, 1949, Naidu had already joined the RSS and was a member of the ABVP by the point he joined Andhra University for a bachelor’s diploma in legislation. His electoral profession started in 1978 when he gained as a Janata Party MLA from Udayagiri. In 1983, he gained on a BJP ticket from the identical constituency, and by 1988, went on to grow to be president of the Andhra BJP. In 1993, he moved to the nationwide scene after changing into normal secretary of the occasion.

In the BJP, Naidu was seen as LK Advani’s protege. After the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, it’s extensively recognized that then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wished Narendra Modi to resign as Gujarat chief minister, however Advani was towards his elimination. Sources say it was Naidu, as BJP president, who conveyed Advani’s choice to Vajpayee. As he did so, “with trembling hands”, Vajpayee half-heartedly agreed.

But a decade later, as winds of change began blowing within the BJP, Naidu effortlessly reworked himself into probably the most ardent supporters of Modi.

While his contemporaries Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj largely shunned waxing eloquent on Modi, Naidu was at all times effusive. Moving the political decision throughout the BJP’s nationwide govt assembly in March 2016, Naidu had described Modi as “God’s gift to India”, a “messiah of the poor”, a “decisive leader” and “MODIfier of developing India”.

Naidu was in his fourth time period as Rajya Sabha MP when he was nominated by the occasion for the publish of Vice-President. As the BJP’s finest recognized face from the South, Naidu’s huge parliamentary expertise, spectacular stature as a pacesetter and his comparatively easy-going nature had gone in his favour.

Sources say Naidu, who held a number of portfolios in Modi’s Cabinet — Parliamentary Affairs, Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation within the first time period, and the essential Information and Broadcasting within the second — was rattled when his title began doing the rounds because the ruling NDA’s nominee for the publish of Vice-President. Those near him had stated he “was not very excited” and would have wished to be an “active politician” until the top of his political profession.

It was lastly a name from the Prime Minister that “reasured” him.

Still, Naidu had turned emotional at a parliamentary board assembly, saying leaving the occasion was like “leaving my mother”.

Now on the finish of his five-year tenure as presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha, Naidu leaves a blended legacy. His time period typically noticed him brooking no indiscipline within the House, which had the Opposition complaining that he bowed to the federal government.

His tenure, which coincided with relations between the federal government and Opposition hitting a brand new low, noticed the Rajya Sabha typically turning right into a political battleground. The Upper House witnessed chaotic scenes over the passage of the farm legal guidelines and the Bills to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir, and led to the suspension of Opposition MPs.

According to Rajya Sabha data, the 13 classes that Naidu presided over had been chaotic. “During the last 13 sessions, 141 of the 248 scheduled full sittings (or 57 per cent) were disrupted partly or fully,” Naidu himself stated initially of the Monsoon Session, his final as presiding officer.

The session additionally turned out to be a standout one for all of the mistaken causes, with the turmoil within the Upper House resulting in a document 23 Opposition MPs being suspended.

His supporters, nevertheless, say that with hardly any assembly level between the Opposition and the federal government, there was little Naidu might have completed. “When the Opposition demands a discussion on a particular issue, it’s for the Government to agree; the Chairman cannot do much,” stated a supply near him.

Opposition leaders settle for the argument, however level out that makes an attempt to interrupt the stalemate or impasse ought to have come from the Chairman, and that Naidu might have used his stature to influence the federal government to take heed to the views of the Opposition. “He is the custodian of the House. The job of the presiding officer is to run the House. He ought to have facilitated dialogue between the federal government and the Opposition. He used to do it earlier, however of late, there was no dialogue for days on finish,” an Opposition chief stated.

His critics additionally level out that whereas in his function as Rajya Sabha Chairman, Naidu typically threw the rule guide on the Opposition, throughout the UPA’s second innings, when the Manmohan Singh authorities was buffeted with expenses of corruption, Naidu, seated within the entrance row along with his late good friend Jaitley, by no means displayed any discomfort when BJP backbenchers disrupted session after session.

Yet, a number of leaders within the Opposition admit that Naidu holds no malice, with many holding him in excessive regard. Senior Congress chief Jairam Ramesh lately urged that the federal government ought to create a publish of ‘Chairman Emeritus’ as a token of acknowledgment of Naidu’s contributions to the Upper House.

An indication of his accommodative nature had been his annual luncheons, each for his or her unfold and their visitor checklist. At the peak of the meat controversy, Naidu as soon as stated, “Some people keep saying such things (that the BJP wants to impose vegetarianism). It is people’s choice to eat what they want.”

He is keen on narrating how, as a younger scholar in Andhra Pradesh, he was reluctant to affix the RSS fearing he must hand over his favourite non-vegetarian meals, however was glad no such calls for had been made from him.

Known to be a household man, Naidu is commonly accompanied by his spouse Usha. He as soon as joked: “I neither want to be rashtrapati (president) or uprashtrapati (vice-president). I am happy to Usha’s pati.” His son is a businessman whereas his daughter Deepa Venkat runs the Swarna Bharat Trust, which is concerned in ability improvement and healthcare, at Muchintal village close to Hyderabad.

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Now, as Naidu joins a protracted checklist of his predecessors (barring S Radhakrishnan and Hamid Ansari) who didn’t get a second time period in workplace, many level out that his reluctance concerning the VP function was not misplaced. Asked what the occasion has in thoughts for Naidu now, a high chief of the BJP stated: “He will proceed to be our margdarshak. Having been in a constitutional publish, he can not take up another function. The occasion will maintain getting his recommendation.”

As Jairam Ramesh stated in a tweet, “So it’s curtains for Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu-garu. His humor and wit might be missed. On many events, he received the Opposition all agitated, however on the finish of it, a superb man exits. He could have retired, however I do know he won’t be drained.”