Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien to Naidu: ‘You would’ve tried hard to get PM to answer one question in your tenure…didn’t happen’

Speaking of the agricultural families in undivided Andhra Pradesh just after India’s independence, O’Brien said the number of bullocks owned by a family used to determine their financial status. “One such family owned eight pairs of bullocks. So far so good. But one day, one of these animals… they went totally nutty and the bullock gorged a lady in the stomach. The lady was carrying a baby — a one-year-old boy. The lady was taken to the hospital and she passed away… And the child lost his mother at the age of one. This is your story, sir, of an early loss.”

This account from Naidu’s childhood made the V-P tear up.

The TMC MP continued: “And from that early loss, you have done whatever you have done which we can find not only in Wikipedia entries but in a glorious career you had.”

He went on saying that on September 20, 2020, the day on which the controversial farm bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha, the Vice President, who hailed from an agricultural family, was not on the chair. “So, this child who lost his mother in these tragic circumstances of this agricultural family. Cut to September 20, 2020. To me that was a very important day in my outlook about you, and may be you’ll answer that question someday in your autobiography… On September the 20th, 2020, the day this house passed the farm bills, you were not on the chair… you were not,” he said.

O’Brien said Naidu had always urged the Opposition and the government to talk to each other and resolve issues. He, however, added, “No one is perfect. You would have tried hard to get our honourable Prime Minister to perhaps answer one question in your full tenure. That didn’t happen.”

The TMC MP ended his speech for Naidu by appreciating the “great food you served us and the great host you are”.