Owe my humility to father, RSS: Ram Naik

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Lucknow: The ostensibly 'tired and retired' Ram Naik, sparked a pre-conditioned idea of him among the power holders of the state, when he was named the new Governor last July.

A year down the line, Naik has been able to undo the bad-mouthing that came his way. His gubernatorial tenure has turned out to be one of the most eventful ones in the state, as he continues to stand by the issues that he considers worthwhile.

However, having earned well-wishers for himself through his humility, Naik has also enlisted himself in the bad books of the Samajwadi Party government. Having turned down the name of a retired judge for Lokayukta and twice rejecting the recommendations by the ruling party for nomination to the legislative council, Ram Naik has been able to enlist himself in the bad books of SP stalwarts like Mohd Azam Khan and Ram Gopal Yadav.

"People attacking me have their political agenda while I am wedded to the constitution of India," he said shunning down the criticisms thrown his way. Naik had been assigned sobriquets like "unfit to be addressed as mahamahim" (his Excellency), "BJP stooge" and many others.

Standing firm on his beliefs, he further stated that he will continue to be a medium between the state and the union government. When asked if the constitutional post bars him from a lot of things, he said "On the contrary it has given me the joy of doing much more than what the constitution bestows on me."

"I owe it to my father and my formative years at Pune with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)", was what he said while expressing his happiness seeing the faces of lepers on the musical evening that had been arranged for them in Raj Bhawan.

Naik has emerged as a 'people's governor' as a result of his efforts towards bringing the academic sessions on track and addressing the issues of the masses.

A three-time legislator in Maharashtra and five-time Lok Sabha MP, the governor seems to have established a comfortable relationship with the people with his "grassroot level-like approach".

"I cannot fathom that he is so down to earth and so pro-active. I had come to him with a problem that the education institution I run was facing and within no time, he got the officials working," said a retired army officer.

"When I went to do my B.Com at Pune, I came in touch with a lot of RSS ideologues and their sense of commitment and conviction got into my personality development DNA," he said as he suggested a four-tier way of life to the new generation- smile, appreciate, do not belittle others and always find a better way of doing things!