Voters ‘gave a message to all, right from top to bottom’: Venkaiah Naidu

“Political parties, at times, may win or lose – that is not the issue. The values, work for the downtrodden, taking care of the oppressed, suppressed and depressed people, Gandhiji’s Antyodaya, Ambedkarji’s Antyodaya – taking care of the poorest of the poor – that should be top of our mind,” he said.

Speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Naidu said, “He is not only popular in India, but also across the globe. Coming back for the third time is not a joke in India. I don’t want to get into politics but… the world started recognising and respecting India. In recent years, because of the knowledge and hard work of Indians across the world, many CEOs of multinational companies are Indians.”

On the challenges for the new government, he said, “While we are able to reduce corruption, undoubtedly under the present regime we are able to reduce poverty levels, but we still have challenges. We must all work together to face these challenges and see to the eradication of poverty, ending urban-rural divide, curbing social evils which are really bringing a bad name to us, and reducing tensions… That is not possible merely by the Prime Minister or by the Chief Minister. That is possible if everybody develops a positive and constructive mind.”

Naidu said there is an urgent need to see what he called the “four Cs” in politicians – character, calibre, capacity and conduct. “Nowadays you see some political parties replacing these four Cs by another four Cs: caste, community, cash and criminality. They may gain temporarily, but that is not going to last for long,” he said.