PM Modi Gets Emotional While Bidding Farewell to Congress Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking in the Rajya Sabha got emotional as he bid farewell to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad on February 9.

Notably, as Ghulam Nabi Azad retires on February 15, in less than a week's time, Azad is the only Leader of Opposition (LoP) since 2014 in the Rajya Sabha.

PM Modi speaking on the occasion called Azad a "true friend," Modi said the Congress leader had "has set very high standards as MP and Opposition leader." "Posts come, the high office comes, power comes and how to handle these, one must learn from Ghulam Nabi Azad Ji. I would consider him a true friend,"

Recalling an old incident PM Modi said, "I will never forget Shri Azad's efforts 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."

Modi also said that post the retirement of Azad, and it will be very difficult for the next person to match the standard of the later.

Ghulam Nabi Azad became a Rajya Sabha member in 1990 from Maharashtra but in 1996, shifted to his home state, Jammu and Kashmir — which became a Union Territory in 2019.

Azad represented it from 1996 to 2006, resigning mid-way as he became the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ghulam Nabi Azad again became the Rajya Sabha MP from Jammu and Kashmir in 2009 and has been a member since then.

In 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was voted out of power, Ghulam Nabi Azad was chosen as the LoP.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders in the reckoning for the next Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha include Anand Sharma, Mallikarjun Kharge, P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh.

Also Read: Manipur Village Awarded 10 lakhs by CM for Destroying Poppy Plants

Also Watch: After BJP, Congress Woos Tea Garden Voters Ahead of Assam Polls