Releasing three books on the life and works of former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu through video conferencing on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the journey of Mr. Naidu’s life is a source of inspiration for the younger generations. The programme was organised in Hyderabad on the eve of Mr. Naidu’s 75th birthday.
Mr. Modi said the life of Mr. Naidu was a perfect glimpse of the amalgamation of ideas, vision and personality. “No one can match the level of Mr. Naidu’s wit, spontaneity, quick counters and one-liners,” the Prime Minister said, remembering his long association with Mr. Naidu in the BJP and in the Union Cabinet.
Mr. Modi released three books on the occasion — Venkaiah Naidu: Life in Service, a biography authored by the former resident editor of The Hindu’s Hyderabad edition, S. Nagesh Kumar; Celebrating Bharat: The Mission and Message of Shri M Venkaiah Naidu as 13th Vice-President of India, a photo chronicle compiled by I.V. Subba Rao, former secretary to the Vice-President of India; and Mahaneta: Life and Journey of Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, a pictorial biography in Telugu authored by Sanjay Kishore .
The PM said Mr. Naidu’s 75 years had been extraordinary and encompassed magnificent milestones. He said the three books would become “a source of inspiration for the people” while also “illuminating the correct path to serving the nation”.
Mr. Modi said he had had the opportunity to work with the former Vice President for a long period since Mr. Naidu became the national president of the BJP, followed by his senior role in the Cabinet, his tenure as the Vice-President of India, and as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. “One can imagine the wealth of experience a person hailing from a small village may have gathered while holding such significant posts. Even I learned a lot from Venkaiah-ji,” he added.
The Prime Minister expressed happiness about the current state of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana when compared with how it had been decades ago, without any strong foundation, and said that despite such lacunae, Mr. Naidu had made all efforts as a student activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, and worked for the nation. He said Mr. Naidu was one such braveheart who had fought the Emergency, and that this was the reason why he considered Mr. Naidu as a true friend.
He said that as the Rural Development Minister in the government led by the late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr. Naidu had wanted to serve villages, the poor, and the farmers, and as a Union Minister for Urban Development in the first Modi government, he had played a visionary role in implementing schemes such as the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Smart City Mission, and Amrit Yojana.
Praising Mr. Naidu for his mild manners, eloquence and wit, the PM recalled that no one could match the former BJP president’s level of wit, spontaneity, quick counters, and one-liners. “In 2014, he introduced the acronym ‘Making of Developed India’ for M.O.D.I,” Mr. Modi said.
