M Venkaiah Naidu to quit politics in 2020

Hyderabad: NDA’s vice-presidential candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday that he would quit public life in January 2020 and retire to his village to do public service. His term as vice-president will last till August 2022. Mr Naidu turns 70 on July 1, 2019.

“Long back, I had taken a decision to quit politics in January 2020 and go back to my native village and take up some social service activities”. He said that this decision had been informed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was speaking at a “Meet and Greet” programme here on Friday.

Reacting to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s allegations about his children being favoured, Mr Naidu said that he had never interfered in his children’s businesses. He said such allegations were inescapable in public life. “Those who are in mud, they cannot bear to see somebody wearing a white shirt and dhoti,” he said.

The government places an order to purchase vehicles with the company; the company gets the order executed through dealers who get a commission, Mr Naidu said in response to allegations that an automotive dealership owned by his son had benefited.

Regarding allegations on the Swarna Bharati Trust, run by his daughter, Mr Naidu said it had been functioning for 16 years and that it did not accept funds from the government. Mr Naidu said his daughter had told him that they did not take foreign funds.