Former PM Manmohan Singh Bids Adieu To Rajya Sabha After 33 Years

New Delhi: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh will end his 33-year-long parliamentary innings in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. As many as nine union ministers and 44 others will also end their Upper House tenure with the veteran Congress leader.

Former party chief Sonia Gandhi will fill the vacant Rajya Sabha seat after the former prime minister completes his tenure, entering the upper house for the first time.

The 91-year-old leader had heralded bold economic reforms and became a member of the Upper House in October 1991. He first served as the finance minister in the Narasimha Rao government (1991-1996) and then as India’s prime minister (2004-2014).

Earlier in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi bade farewell to the retiring Rajya Sabha MPs and praised the stalwart for his contribution to the democracy.

“I want to remember Dr Manmohan Singh today, his contribution has been immense. For such a long time, the way he guided this House and the country, he will always be remembered for it.”

Others who retired on Tuesday and Wednesday include:

Samajwadi Party’s Jaya Bachchan, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Kumar Jha, Congress’ Naseer Hussain and Abhishek Singhvi, BJP’s national media-in-charge Anil Baduni, BJP ledaer Prakash Javadekar, Sushil Kumar Modi, Anil Jain and Saroj Pandey.

Bachchan, Jha and Hussain have been renominated for another term, while Singhvi will be absent from the House as he lost the election from Himachal Pradesh, News 18 reported.