The 'humble beginnings' v/s 'rich families' in Rajya Sabha

PM Modi while welcoming the new VP, said all top four posts in India now are held by humble beginners.

While Rajya Sabha welcomed the new chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Friday, it also witnessed some fireworks, not literally though. Prime Minister in his welcome speech to RS Chairman, pointed out that all top posts in India were currently being held by those who started with nothing and did not come from 'rich families'. He said, "For the first time all top posts (PM, President, VP and Speaker) are held by those with humble beginnings."

Obviously, this did not go down well with the Opposition parties in the Parliament. PM Modi's apparent jibe at the 'rich families', meaning they were from Congress was met with a rebuttal by Ghulam Nabi Azad, who recounted the sacrifices of 'rich' yet dedicated social servants who belonged to leading Opposition party, including Jawahar Lal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. He said, "It does not matter if a person came from rich or poor family, but what matters is how much they sacrificed in service of the people."

Currently, India's President is Ram Nath Kovind, who started as student leader, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who worked his way up the political ladder was a farmers son, while the Prime Minister himself was a tea vendor when he started off. The Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan, hails from a middle-class family in Indore and she is currently the longest-serving woman member in the Parliament.

OneIndia News