Sri Venkaiah is simple in appearance but has a very powerful personality. Perhaps the only comparable commanding figure in Indian politics is Indrajit Gupta. That could be one of the reasons why he was chosen to be the Chairman of Rajya Sabha in which BJP did not have enough strength. He is adept in rules and regulations and that could be another reason for his suitability to that position. His expertise in language and use of rhyming words is an asset which perhaps no other politician has. His words are decisive and yet the rhyming makes them soft and humorous. His love for his mother tongue Telugu and other languages too is well known. His organizational skills made him National President of the party. He is an avid reader. Another remarkable quality in him is that he always speaks with undeniable facts and figures like Nallapareddy Srinivasulu Reddy, another senior politician from Nellore town from which Sri Venkaiah too hails.
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Active in RSS
Sri Venkaiah, born in a village in the outskirts of Nellore town, AP, had been a student of VR Higher Secondary and Multipurpose School and VR College in which I was senior to him. Even when he was in High School he was an active member of RSS and had been asking many students to join it. He used to take me and my friend Prakasam to attend Guru Puja conducted once a year. In the college he always had by his side Mr Lakshmi Prasad, a tall and strong person like him. He was an active participant in college elections which were nothing short of MLA elections in mid 1960s. When one of our contestants was kidnapped by our rivals sri Venkaiah and his friend were there to protect us.
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When a student was beaten up…
When sri Venkaiah was in 1st year degree he suddenly rose to fame because of an incident. Two students of our college went to Kanaka Mahal, a cinema theatre. For unknown reason the theatre owners started beating them. One of them escaped but the other was beaten black and blue. The escaped student contacted the parents of the beaten boy and they complained to the police. The police went to the theatre and the management told them that no untoward incident happened there. As the police returned, the parents, being influential, contacted higher authorities. Police went again and after a thorough check, found the boy in a washroom in unconscious condition with wounds all over his body.
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Venkaiah made a powerful speech
Next morning when students came to know about the condition of the beaten boy there was a huge agitation. As the theatre owners were leaders of a political party and had many musclemen, students sought the help of other political party leaders. All supported the students and there was a public meeting conducted in VR College grounds. Sri Venkaiah, who lead the students, was asked to speak a few words in that meeting after all the political leaders spoke. When he spoke, audience were spell bound with his emotional and powerful speech. Everyone of the audience could not but appreciate such oratorical sonority in a young one. I think that was the first public appearance of sri Venkaiah and since then he never looked back till date.
Along with a successful political career sri Venkaiah has been in the service of society with his Swarna Bharati Trust. Hope he will concentrate more on those activities from now on.
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