Venkaiah Naidu misses old day action

A quintessential partyman that he had been for decades, it was not an easy task for M Venkaiah Naidu to settle down in his new role as Vice President of India which in his words he is still “adjusting to”.

That the 13th Vice President was not quite keen for the job and wanted to remain in active politics was something known to all in media and political circles.

Interacting with media persons at his residence here on Monday, Naidu (69) chose to make it public as to how he felt when after nearly 50 years of his active public life, the BJP decided to name him the Vice Presidential nominee.

“I can share it with you now. The very day I became candidate for Vice President, when the decision was announced, tears welled up into my eyes. I said to my colleagues that tomorrow onwards I won’t be able to come to the party office. The party has been like a mother to me. Tomorrow onwards I cannot come to you, cannot meet you, cannot talk to you. That is there. I cannot go to party office now,” he said.

“These are now the problems initially I faced and slowly I am getting adjusted to it. I decided that day as Vice President there is no party politics. That is slowly I am getting adjusted to,” he added.

Talking of his one-year-long stint in the Vice Presidency, Naidu talked of his impatience with the paraphernalia and the protocol involved during his movements.

Naidu, former BJP president, who has been a prominent media face of the Modi government in his role both as Information and Broadcasting Minister as well as Parliamentary Affairs Minister, also misses all the action that he was used to even as he has already completed one year in office since he took oath on August 11 last year.

Regarding his experience in his new role, the Vice President said, “ I am asked by my media friends, how is my new job? Am I happy? Do I enjoy this new position? How has been my experience? Sweet or sour? You know my temperament and nature. I can’t live without work. If there is no work then I become restive. There is no word like rest in my dictionary. I do not enjoy rest. I enjoy work. I used to enjoy it also. I never used to get tired. That of course I miss to some extent.”

The Vice President, who in his both roles in the ministry, never shied away from taking potshots on BJP’s political rivals now, feels “constrained”.

“Then the third weakness of mine. I used to react. Whenever the other man says, I must react. That is my temperament. Now there is no reaction. So that is a problem. I feel constrained. Even somebody said something wrong, totally incorrect, I cannot say anything. That’s a problem. I am trying to adjust with that. I used to speak earlier, whatever I felt was right. That also is a constraint. You are in a Constitutional position. This is the discomfiture I am having. I have the habit of calling spade a spade,” Naidu said.

He said he had different plans for his future. “I was not inclined to all this. I wanted to quit politics after 2019 work for society as Nanaji Deshmukh did,” he said.

Naidu said even while he is holding the Vice President’s post, he has been meeting farmers in good numbers at his residence and office as well as when he goes out of Delhi. He said that he has visited 26 universities and wants to visit science institutions across the country now.