Rajya Sabha witnessed emotional scenes on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the contribution of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to the country, the House and also his party.
An emotional Prime Minister Modi bid adieu to Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is retiring from the House and recalled his long association with the senior leader.
Lauding the senior Congress leader's contribution to the causes dear to him, the Prime Minister said, "The person who will replace Ghulam Nabi ji (as Leader of Opposition) will have difficulty matching his work because he was not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House."
Almost teary-eyed, the Prime Minister recalled an incident where Mr Azad's personal intervention led to the return of survivors and corpses of Gujarat residents who had faced a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
"I will never forget Shri Azad's and Shri Pranab Mukherjee's efforts when people from Gujarat were stuck in Kashmir due to a terror attack. Ghulam Nabi Ji was constantly following up, he sounded as concerned as if those stuck were his own family members," the Prime Minister said, while members of the House listened intently.
This comes a day after he praised Mr Azad for his words on Jammu and Kashmir and local polls conducted recently.
Lok Sabha resumed normal functioning on Monday after a week-long disruption over the three central farm laws following an appeal by Mr Singh that it was a duty of every member to maintain the tradition of passing the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
The House is likely to take up a Short Duration Discussion on the farmers' issue in the second part of the Budget session beginning March 8.