Former Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh Retires from Rajya Sabha

Former Prime Minister of the country and Congress MP Dr. Manmohan Singh will no longer be seen in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament. This is because he is going to retire after 33 years. His long and brilliant parliamentary innings will end on Wednesday (April 3, 2024). 91-year-old Manmohan Singh, considered the architect of economic reforms, became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time in October 1991. He was the Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government from 1991 to 1996 and the Prime Minister of the country from 2004 to 2014.

The special thing is that his innings is coming to an end when Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi is reaching Rajya Sabha for the first time. Sonia Gandhi will take the entry in the Rajya Sabha for the first time from Rajasthan, meanwhile the tenure of 54 Rajya Sabha members including that of Manmohan Singh is ending on Tuesday and Wednesday and some of them are not expected to return to the Upper House.

Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge wrote a letter to ex-PM

Malikarjun Kharge in his letter to Manmohan Singh wrote—

‘As you retire today from the Rajya Sabha after having served for more than three decades, an era comes to an end. Very few people can say they have served our nation with more dedication and more devotion than you. Very few people have accomplished as much as you for the nation and its people.’

He further wrote—

‘We live in times that are largely shaped by you. The economic prosperity and stability that we enjoy today is built on the foundations laid by you along with our former Prime Minister, Bharat Ratna, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao. The current set of leaders who have reaped the benefits of your work are reluctant to credit you due to political biases.’

SP Jaya Bachchan is also among those who retired

49 members of the Rajya Sabha retired on Tuesday (April 2), while five other members are to retire on Wednesday (April 3). Among the members retiring from the Upper House is Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan, who has subsequently been renominated by her party for another term as well. One other member, Manoj Kumar Jha, has been renominated by Rashtriya Janata Dal for another term in the upper house from Bihar. Nasir Hussain of the Congress party has also completed his term, and has been renominated from Karnataka.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi's tenure also ends

Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi's tenure in Rajya Sabha also ended today. He will not be in the Upper House at present, because he has lost the Rajya Sabha elections from Himachal Pradesh. Among others who retired is BJP's national media in-charge Anil Baluni. He is from Pauri Garhwal seat of Uttarakhand.

-Rahul Dubey