New Delhi: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on September 2 regretted the "unjustified common perception" that people in public life were not good and said politicians were not immune to societal decadence.

"The common man's image about people in public life or people's representatives is not good. This is not justified. No section remains untouched from the general decline in society, but in a democracy the spotlight or limelight is always on people's representatives," Advani said at a function to release a special volume to mark Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik's completion of 25 years as people's representative.

He said the maximum shortcomings were seen in people in public life.

Advani had the audience in splits when he recalled a humorous couplet, which was recited at the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) public convention in Mumbai in which a new Minister told his driver to allow him to drive, but the latter told him that he would prefer to get out of the car as it was a car and not 'Sarkar', which could be left at the mercy of God.

Recalling that Acharya Vinoba Bhave began learning Arabic to read the Koran in original very late, Advani said the Bhoodan movement leader used to say that one becomes old when one thinks he is too old to learn something new.

He said people like Ram Naik deserved the respect of the society for their words and actions and proved that the general perception about politicians was "unjustified".

Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi released the compilation 'Lok Sabha Mein Ram Naik' (Ram Naik in Lok Sabha).

PTI