New Delhi, Aug 9 : Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the role of the Deputy Chairman in the House was an `important one’ and he expected the new incumbent to live up to the expectation.
Delivering his welcome speech in the House after the election of National Democratic Alliance candidate Harivansh to the post, Mr Naidu said, ‘He is cool, calm and smiling and these qualities will help him in running the House.’
Urging members to extend cooperation to the Deputy Chairman, Mr Naidu said running the House was not about looking to the Left or Right but about rules and regulations, ‘which takes care of all’.
He was responding to the views expressed by members of smaller and regional parties who said they were not given adequate time for expressing their view during debates.
‘All observations of the Chair are in accordance with rules. I had said initially, my operation depends upon your cooperation,’ he said.
Referring to Mr Harivansh, Mr Naidu said he hails from Uttar Pradesh village bordering Bihar, resides in Jharkhand and is a member of the House from Bihar.
“This will give him a pan-India perception.’’
He said that he had been elected to the post as a first-time member and this was indeed an honour.
‘He took education from a government school—like me—and then studied at Banaras Hindu University and has been a journalist of repute. When started working in ‘Prabhat Khabar’ it had a circulation of 400, which
went up to 10 lakh during his editorship. He gave up his job in a bank and became a journalist, which shows
that he goes by his heart,’ the Chairman said.
Mr Naidu said as Adviser to former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, Mr Harivansh has experience in governance.
The Chairman also appreciated the manner in which the losing candidate B K Hariprasad had conducted himself and said that the election for the post of Deputy Chairman was conducted in a smooth and dignified manner.
Earlier leaders of political parties welcomed Mr Harivansh and assured him of full cooperation.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar urged him to “give a direction’’ to the House, while Satish Chandra (BSP) reminded him that he now did not belong to any party but belonged to the entire House.
Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) said having worked with great leaders the Deputy Chairman had a “proven and humble’’ track record.
D Raja (CPI), SS Dhindsa (SAD), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Y S Chaudhary (TDP) K Keshav Rao (TRS) Vijairai Reddy (YSRCP) assured their support to Mr Harivansh.
JD (U) leader Ramchandra Prasad Singh said Mr Harivansh had not sought office but was picked up by their leader Nitish Kumar for nomination to the Rajya Sabha.
UNI.
Comments are closed.