NELLORE: Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday that issues of country’s security and development should be kept away from politics.
Interacting with media persons at his village home in Venkatachalam here on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of family-run Swaran Bharat Trust, Mr Naidu said politicising security of the country will de-moralise security forces.
“In politics one works for grassroots?these parachute politicians should be discouraged. Dynasty, as far as the service of people is concerned, can be encouraged, but not otherwise,” he said.
President Ram Nath Kovind had participated in the 18th anniversary celebrations of the Trust where he spoke about youth giving back to the society especially the poor and the under-privileged.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu skipped the event. Instead he deputed two of his ministers to attend the function.
The former President of the Bhartiya Janata Party said he had kept his children away from dynastic politics, though he has nothing against his daughter and son working in the service of people. His daughter, Deepa Venkat is the Managing Trustee of the Swaran Bharat Trust.
The Vice President was happy to note that the Swarna Bharat Trust is engaged in socially relevant and people-centric activities that cover many areas, ranging from education to healthcare and agriculture to skills training.
The Vice-President said elections cannot be won by freebies. ?That is not the solution. Political parties should focus only on people’s issues. Elections cannot be won on newspaper headlines,” he said.
Recalling that his daughter had turned down an offer from none other than former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had asked her if she wanted to become a leader and she had replied that one could be a leader in one’s own field, not necessarily politics.
The Vice-President who is known to be reluctant to leave active politics said, “Now children are grown up and after me they can do what they want.?
He said personally he had made up his mind to leave politics in 2019 and wanted to focus on social service.
Asked about the washed out recent budget session of Rajya Sabha, he said he had already expressed his views in the House. “Elections are round the corner.
I want to write an article on what sort of candidates should people elect. They should see the person’s performance in Parliament such as how many days he attended the House and what was his/her performance like.”
The Swaran Bharat Trust is formed on voluntary donations by sponsors who become partners. Essentially it comprises Mr. Naidu’s friends who bear the burden of lifting under-privileged children and women out of poverty.
With empowerment of rural people, women, farmers and youth as its goal, the Trust imparts training to Below Poverty line families at its Institute of Rural Entrepreneurship Development and Swaran Bharat SOMA Institute of Technical Training and helps them find job placements with donor companies and elsewhere. It does not accept grants or aid from government. (AGENCIES)
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