JOIN USDid my best, leaving satisfied: Venkaiah Naidu on last day as VP
"I did my best and I am leaving satisfied," outgoing Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday, his last day in the Constitutional post.
From Friday, Naidu said, he will be resuming his "unfinished journey in the service of the country" and will continue to meet people, including farmers who need greater attention from the government and authorities.
Jagdeep Dhankhar will be sworn in as new Vice President at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. Naidu, who will be shifting to 1, Thyagraj Marg, will fly to Hyderabad on Wednesday after the function and later will return to Delhi.
Sources said Naidu held a series of meetings, including one with Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody and other officials and one with some Rajya Sabha MPs, during which he spoke about the "reversal during the last three years of the declining trend of productivity" of the Upper House and various initiatives taken to enable effective functioning of the House and the Secretariat.
He asked the MPs to make judicious use of the Rules and instruments of the House to raise various issues, even as he expressed concern over the rising instances of Opposition demanding suspension of business under Rule 267, saying it should be used in rarest of rare occasions.
"The Rule 267 should be resorted to in the rarest of the rare cases that justifies suspension of other rules of the House. It should not be taken lightly. Different Members giving notices under this Rule on different issues on the same day is another issue impacting the perceived priorities for the day," Naidu was quoted as saying.
At a luncheon meeting with journalists, sources said, Naidu recalled his association with media in Delhi since he came to the capital as BJP General Secretary in 1993.
"Whatever I said was properly reported. I am very happy about that. I never had to clarify anything later. That is a big thing in politics, that too in Delhi. It is not easy. When you have a frank exchange, you would not need that," Naidu said.
He said he will be active in social life and will be interacting with people, mainly the youth.
Naidu also said that he never involved his family in politics. "We have a gentleman's agreement in our family. I will not interfere in their business and they will not interfere in my politics. In present day politics, people look at leaders and complain about this. There is no complaint against me from public," he added.