A politician's competition is his or her predecessor: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MoS for parliamentary affairs, minority affairs

Claim to fame

A minister of state in the Vajpayee government of the late '90s, Naqvi staged a comeback after 15 years when he was inducted into the Modi Cabinet

The lesson

In politics there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy. Yes, we hear about competition among business houses or sportpersons, but we (politicians) have no permanent competitors. Actually, when you are in politics and reach a particular stage, first, you need to compete with yourself. You can't allow yourself to lower your own position.

Then, if you occupy any post, you will always be compared with your predecessor. Let's then take the example of a state. Any chief minister will have to perform in such a way that his performance has to be better than the one who was voted out. Who is (UP chief minister) Akhilesh Singh Yadav's competitor? It's Mayawati, because his performance (as CM) is being benchmarked against his predecessor (Mayawati). So, a politician has to compete with his predecessor.

In my case, some of my predecessors as Parliamentary affairs ministers performed very well in floor management. For various reasons including one that we don't have majority in the Rajya Sabha, we have not been able to get enough number of bills passed in Parliament, particularly in the last two sessions. So, there is a pressure on me to perform better. In the winter session, we worked hard in coordinating with all Opposition parties. We have been in constant consultation with all parties, irrespective of their political position and ideology. And our strategies have worked quite well this time.

(As told to Shantanu Nandan Sharma)