Devendra Fadnavis at legislators' meet says, focus on on your work do not let media set agenda

After a war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ally Shiv Sena over a newspaper advertisement, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cautioned against deviating from the agenda of nation building.

Fadnavis was speaking at the inauguration of the first National Legislators Conference organised by the MIT-School of Governance and attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, presiding officers of assemblies and nearly 2,000 legislators from across the country.

I have seen that often the media decides the agenda for us. We are so desperate to appear in the media that we forget our own agenda, he said amid a row over the newspaper advertisement that projected Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as a more popular leader in the state than his deputy.

Fadnavis urged the legislators attending the conference not to deviate from the agenda of law making and contributing to the progress of the nation. He said democracy took root in India centuries ago and continues to thrive even today as a country of 140 crore people participate in free and fair elections to elect their representatives.

Democracy is in the blood of every Indian, it reflects in our values. We can keep our small differences and work together for the common good, Fadnavis said. He said democracy in India has in-built checks and balances and the legislative assemblies give voice to the last person in the queue and ensure that it reaches the executive. Fadnavis urged the legislators to explore how the legislative assemblies and councils can work for more days in a year and desist from passing legislations without discussion.