New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday bid farewell to five of its members from Tamil Nadu who have completed six years of their term, with one of them, V. Maitreyan, breaking down while giving his farewell speech.
"At this juncture, I place on record a deep sense of gratitude towards my beloved leader, Amma (Jayalalithaa) for having immense faith in me & sending me to this House for 3 terms. She gave me the honour of being the only member from AIADMK to have been given membership to Rajya Sabha for three terms. My unalloyed loyalty to her will always be there," Maitreyan said in fumbled voice.
The AIADMK MP also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Finance Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Arun Jaitley.
"I would like to express my thanks to one person who has guided me throughout in this house and considered me as his brother Shri Arun Jaitely. I wish he has a speedy recovery from his illness and guide others also in future," he said.
"I cannot forget my longtime friend and Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom I know since the 90s and I had been a loyal emissary between him and Madam. I sincerely thank him for personal affection for me," Maitreyan said.
The five retiring on July 24 are Maitreyan, D. Raja, K.R. Arjunan, R. Lakshmanan and T. Rathinavel. While Raja is from the CPI, all others are from AIADMK.
House Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu appreciated the contributions of the existing members in the law-making process and public service.
Senior leaders noted that they will miss the presence of the five, especially Raja.
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