Venkaiah Naidu says politicians must remember they are rivals, not enemies 

M Venkaiah Naidu.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, on Thursday, said that politicians must remember that “they are rivals and not enemies” and reaffirm people’s confidence and trust in them and in the parliamentary system.

While speaking at a gathering to celebrate the best-performing parliamentarians, organized by the Marathi newspaper Lokmat, where some discussions between India’s senior most legislators turned into heated debates and fights, Naidu said the “way we run our polity should be assuring the people about their future and that of the country”. As parliamentarians, he said, “every word you utter, every decision you make, every vote you cast, resonates deeply within the hearts of your people who have great expectations from you”.

He continued, “It is therefore important to reassure them, to reaffirm their confidence in you as well as the parliamentary system.” Politicians must be guided by a certain degree of “national consensus over issues of broader concern” and the political debates “conducted on those lines”.

Related