Amit Shah's Masterclass On "How To Become An Effective MLA"

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said MLAs should have the skill to put forth the ideology and policies of the party in the Assembly using legislative rules.

Addressing the concluding session of the two-day orientation programme for newly elected members of Chhattisgarh Assembly, Mr Shah said responsibility towards the constituency, ideology and policies of the party as well as welfare and development of the state are three key responsibilities of an MLA.

"If we want to achieve success in all these three things then we have to allocate our time and strength with complete planning for it," he said.

Mr Shah was speaking on the topic 'How to become an effective MLA' at the event held in the state assembly complex.

"As an MLA, we should be aware we are carriers of a great tradition. When the country got independence, many pundits of democracy from across the world and journalists were apprehensive about how would India function and how would democracy function," he said.

"But in the last 75 years, we together along with all parties have deepened and strengthened its roots and have given a message to the whole world that we are a successful democracy," he added.

He told the legislators they must have "samvedna" (empathy) towards the people, promptness and skill to discharge constitutional responsibilities and curiosity to prepare themselves for these three responsibilities.

Another very important aspect is to remain happy, he said.

"No one has invited us. We have voluntarily come forward to serve the state and the country. When we have come forward then we also have to face challenges. We should always remain happy. If you don't remain happy then people will keep distance from you," he said.

There should be no assembly rule which they hadn't used by the end of two-and-half years of their term, Mr Shah told the gathering.

He told them to utilize question hour, zero hour, resolutions and private member bills in the best possible manner to raise issues after thoroughly studying assembly rules and regulations.

"The private member bill is a key medium to address various issues. After the formation of the Narendra Modi government (in 2014), Article 370 and Triple Talaq were scrapped and CAA was introduced. In the last 75 years, various private member bills were brought on these three issues (in Parliament)," he said.

"Opposition members had brought private member bills on these issues despite knowing it would get defeated. They put forth the ideology of their party before the public. Some good private member bills should be brought which can become a law after one or two decades," Mr Shah said.

Mr Shah said he would have brought an "abhinandan" (greetings) resolution in connection with the Ram Temple in Ayodhya if he was a member of Chhattisgarh Assembly.

"In this way, members can keep the ideology and achievements of their party before the public. If you want to become a leader in your area and then of the state and then of the country, 'sampark, samvad and parishram' (contact, communication and hard work) are the only three things that can help," Mr Shah asserted.

Mr Shah asked the new members to deal with bureaucrats humbly and politely to address the issues of their area, which should be raised in writing for effective redressal.

"Nowadays, it has become a fashion for public representatives talk with officials and shoot a video to make it viral on social media. I have seen such 'video veer' (those making such videos) losing polls by huge margins. The video will get them publicity for some time but the issue remained unresolved," Mr Shah said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)