Venkaiah demands a stop to freebies and a stronger anti-defection statute

On Tuesday, former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu asked for tightening the anti-defection legislation, citing political leaders’ “frequent” party switching as a “disturbing trend.” Speaking at a reception at his home after his receipt of the Padma award, Naidu said that declaring “freebies” in the run-up to elections without disclosing the means of fund-raising is a bad practice that has to be avoided and that voters had to question the parties and leaders making such audacious claims.

At a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Monday night, President Droupadi Murmu gave Naidu the Padma Vibhushan honor. “There is an encouragement to defect. “The anti-defection law needs to be strengthened,” he said.

“The concern now is that public life standards are declining. Individuals within political parties often switch parties. The newest tendency is for individuals to attend one party in the morning and then go to another in the evening, when they criticize your leader and make disparaging remarks. Additionally, some of them get preferred seating. “People should stay away from this trend since it is quite unsettling. At gatherings, people ought to work and present their credentials. To switch parties, one must first resign from their current position and only then join a new one. Making charges is normal, but what is taking place here is abuse, not accusation, according to Naidu.

According to him, there is now no money, therefore, making promises without thinking about where the money would come from is another dangerous tendency.

The former vice president said, “Political parties need to present a manifesto, as well as programs that are backed by the state’s finances, how they plan to mobilize resources, and whatever spending priorities they have.” Given that “money does not grow on trees,” he questioned how it was feasible to give everything out for free.

He said that certain politicians and political groups, however, continue to make empty promises despite the state’s precarious financial situation. According to Naidu, politicians continue to make promises and give things away for free, even when states are bearing a financial burden of lakhs of crores of rupees. “I object to freebies. I support two things: free public health care and education. If you provide free healthcare and education, you can eliminate all other costs. He bemoaned, “They are not doing that.” “Political parties should question how you are going to mobilize resources and discourage this kind of promise and freebie.”

The public should be provided with the state’s financial health, resource mobilization, and manifesto, he said. Additionally, Naidu urged voters to reject candidates who are known to be overtly corrupt and who use foul language.