Venkaiah Naidu proud to live on Kalam Road

Speaking at the launch of a book on Indian history, The Chronology of Ancient India: Victim of Distortions and Concoctions authored by Sanskrit scholar and Indian Defence Accounts Service officer, Dr Vedveer Arya in Hyderabad, the minister said, “There is a need to ‘Indianise’ Indian history.” He added that the history being taught in schools was a distorted version prepared by the British, Leftists and pseudosecularists.

Giving examples of some organizations in the country which had “Hindustan” or “Hindu” in their names, he said that “Hindu” was the cultural identity of India. Mr Naidu also laid stress on the need to revamp the educational system, which he said had developed such a mindset among youngsters that they no longer had respect for the real history of India. He said that there was need for a cultural renaissance in the country and a need to make the study of “Indianised” history a must.

Mr Naidu compared the Agni missile of DRDO to the Pasupata astra mentioned in ancient Indian scriptures and said that Indian scientists were rediscovering the technologies of ancient India. Referring to a string of discoveries by ancient Indian scientists like Baudhayana, Bhaskaracharya, Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Sushruta and Charaka, he complained that India’s elite continued to promote the notion that pre-colonial India was feudal, pre-rational and that invasions were a must.

Referring to the smart cities programme of the BJP, he said that such a scheme had to be undertaken because developed Indian cities were destroyed over the years and invaders had come to India for her wealth and pushed the country into dark ages, which had peaked during British rule. He said that India was not a developing country but a “redeveloping” one. Speaking about the Yakub Memon hanging, he said that it was not connected to religion and that it had become a fashion nowadays to run down Hindus.

He said the Congress was stalling development by not allowing the Bill to pass in the RS. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a book launch in Hyderabad, Mr Naidu said that Rs 2 crore was recently sanctioned for Hyderabad and three other cities — which have to be developed as smart cities — for preparing Detailed Project Reports.

Speaking on farmers' suicides, he said the government was working on solutions. On Bihar elections he said the BJP was confident of winning and gave examples of the recent wins in the municipal elections in Rajasthan and Bengaluru. He also cited the ABVP victory in the Delhi varsity polls. Students’ Union elections and said that the country's youth had faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Asked about YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy threatening to go on an indefinite fast demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh, Mr Naidu did not give a clear reply.