Asserting that political opponents should not be considered enemies, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday that political values have declined in the recent times and so has the coordination between the ruling side and those in the opposition.
Speaking at an event organised in the memory of former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat at the Birla Auditorium here, Naidu said the opposition must have the right to speak.
"For the strength of Indian democracy, it is necessary that political opponents should not be considered as political enemies and there should be no bitterness towards each other," he said.
"Saying with great anguish that today political values have declined and so has the coordination with the opposition. In a democracy, the government proposes, the opposition opposes and the House disposes. For this, the opposition must have the right to speak," Naidu, also the Rajya Sabha chairman, said.
Naidu also reiterated that every political party should formulate a code of conduct for its members to strengthen the parliamentary democracy.
"The time has come when every political party should think in its own way to create a code of conduct for its members to strengthen parliamentary democracy," he said.
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He said that politics should be done while staying within four 'Cs' -- character, caliber, capacity and conduct, whereas in practice it is being done on the basis of other four 'Cs' -- castes, community, cash and criminality.
"It is therefore important that all political parties make their own code of conduct so that India's democracy can be strengthened," he added.
On Shekhawat, Naidu said he was the carrier of the tradition in which, despite political differences he had cordial relations with the opponents.
"Today, this tradition is missing somewhere," he said.
Speaking at the event, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi said Shekhawat was a leader of parliamentary traditions, a defender of parliamentary values and a politician committed to his ideology.
Rajya Sabha member Om Prakash Mathur, Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria and MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi were also present at the event.