Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today stressed the need to promote value-based and ethical politics to protect and strengthen Indian democracy.

Expressing his concern over falling standards in public life, Naidu urged public representatives to refrain from making personal attacks on their political adversaries.

He emphasized the need for consensus-building with all stakeholders on important national matters and advised young and upcoming politicians to take principled positions on various issues.

Unveiling the statue of late Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao, former Chairman of Krishna district Zilla Parishad in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, the Vice President said that Koteswara Rao made an everlasting impression on the minds of the people as the Chairman of Zilla Parishad, retaining the position for more than two decades. He proved that decentralized democracy can bring developmental benefits to the people, he said.

Urging the younger politicians to emulate Koteswara Rao, Naidu said that political parties must make reasonable and practical promises in their election manifestos to retain people’s trust. Otherwise, people will lose their faith in electoral democracy. He called for a wider debate on the freebies promised during elections and the possibility of making election manifestos legally binding.

The Vice President suggested that people should not limit their democratic participation to merely voting once every five years, but must also question and demand accountability constantly from the elected representatives and the government.

He said that people should elect their representatives on the basis of 4Cs – ‘character, caliber, capacity and conduct’ and not on the basis of ‘caste, community, cash, and criminality, which are being sought to be promoted by some people.

Naidu called for a more responsible media that avoids sensationalism and reflects the state of affairs in society in an objective way.

Andhra Pradesh Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh; Krishna District ZP Chairman Uppala Harikrishna; Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas; MLAs Perni Venkataramaiah and Samineni Udaya Bhanu; Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation Mayor Moka Venkateswaramma; former Chief Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary; and former Minister of Andhra Pradesh Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao were present on the occasion.