Former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said India’s voters in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections had sent a “message for everyone” and he hoped “people would understand that message.”
“This election has proved why India is called a great democracy. Billions of people voted peacefully. Whatever change they wanted, they brought about peacefully,” the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker said at the 43rd convocation of the Anand Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) in Anand, Gujarat.
“They have conveyed the message to everyone from top to bottom. Elections have a message. It would be good if people understand that message,” he added, without elaborating.
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For the first time since 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party fell short in India’s midterm Lok Sabha elections, forcing it to turn to allies to form a government.
The BJP won comfortably with 240 seats in the Lower House of the Rajya Sabha, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 53. However, the BJP will have to remain vigilant as it will be heavily dependent on Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP to run a stable government. Chandrababu Naidu is known as a shrewd politician and a tough negotiator, while Nitish Kumar is known for frequently shifting allegiance to and from the BJP for his own personal gain.
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Venkaiah Naidu said irrespective of winning or losing the elections, the party’s first priority will be to work for the poor and downtrodden.
“Money should not play a key role (in politics). We have to make sure that we are choosing and electing good people (for money). We must not forget the four Cs — character, calibre, competence and conduct. But of late, you will see some politicians and political parties replacing these four Cs with other Cs like cash, caste, community and crime,” he said in his address to the graduating class.
Naidu added that while political parties may gain in the short term from using the second C, “it will not and should not last long”.
