NEW DELHI: A veiled criticism of the opposition and praise for a former party colleague were rolled into one as Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for being a disciplinarian and said that enforcing discipline was now seen as “undemocractic and authoritarian”.The Prime Minister was releasing a coffee table book, ‘Moving on...Moving Forward: A year in Office’, on the completion of Naidu’s first year in office.Remarking that the country could see more of Naidu as Rajya Sabha Chairman because of the repeated disruptions in the upper House over the last year, Modi said, “Venkaiah ji is a believer in discipline. But the condition of our country is such that any attempt to discipline is easily called undemocratic. If some one calls for discipline, he is branded as autocratic. But Venkaiah ji practises the discipline he expects from people.”Former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda, deputy leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi were among those in attendance at the release of Naidu’s book on Sunday.Highlighting the enormous political and administrative experience Naidu came with, former PM Manmohan Singh said the VP’s “best was yet to come”, while former PM HD Deve Gowda said Naidu had done his best to conduct the business of the House even though the present circumstances were difficult and “complicated.”Naidu, who called the book a report of his work to the people, urged all parties to evolve a code of conduct for MPs and MLAs within and outside the Legislatures and Parliament. Bemoaning the failure of Parliament to function as it should, Naidu said members desirous of changing parties must resign their membership to do so, and that the anti-defection law should be implemented in letter and spirit, in three months. The Vice President also said all pending election petitions and criminal cases against members of Parliament should be disposed of “as soon as possible”, and that a “National Policy” on the need for an Upper House in State Legislatures must now be considered.Pushing for the linking of rivers across the country so that water was available to all, the Rajya Sabha chairman also said nationalism in the present day context must not only mean garlanding statues of ‘Bharat Mata’, but saying ‘Jai Ho’ to every one of the 130 crore people of India. “Discrimination of anyone on the basis of religion or caste is not acceptable. We must uphold the rich traditions of cultural diversity and inclusive nationalism,” Naidu said.