Leaders should focus on development instead of doling our freebies to people, Venkaiah Naidu said. (File)
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said on Sunday that political parties should focus on development instead of doling our freebies during elections.
"Rather than focusing on freebies, we should focus on long term growth stories, developmental stories so that the people can stand on their own. These temporary things will be temporary lollipops only," he said during a Textiles Ministry event in New Delhi.
The Vice President also spoke about the functioning of the Parliament and said he was "pained by our inability to ensure convergence of different agendas into a national agenda".
"Parliamentary institutions cannot be held captive to the competitive agenda. The Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha, could not function for 14 days because of competition between two parties," Venkaiah Naidu said.
The Vice President noted that civility of proceedings in the parliamentary institutions is a parameter of an aspiring nation finding its feet and fulfilling its quest.
Emphasising political representatives must look into "Four Cs"; character, calibre, capacity and conduct, he expressed regret that certain political parties were bringing in "caste, community, cash and criminality".
"If these things influence the society, it is a gone case. We must bring back the agenda to development," he said.