Vice-President elect M. Venkaiah Naidu wanted to quit the Rajya Sabha too, besides his membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Union Ministry when he was chosen as the official candidate. But he was prevented from doing so by party president Amit Shah.
“Usually I consider myself sharp, but my party president’s brain is sharper. He advised me against quitting the RS membership because I too could cast my vote in the elections,” recalled Mr. Naidu at an informal interaction with journalists here on Wednesday.
Stating that once he sat on the Vice-President’s chair things would change, he said he was going through the work of his predecessors to understand how to go about the job.
“What I will miss the most is commenting on current affairs. I am going to see if I can find a way to express my views on development issues,” he said. The media, he said, had played an important role in his political life.
Mr. Naidu said he would also miss going on tours, meeting the people and public meetings.
“I must have visited every village in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and 620 districts across the country,” he said.