Nostalgic Patil bids farewell to House, MPs

Taking a trip down memory lane, in her farewell address to MPs as President, Pratibha Patil on Monday said disruptions in Parliament should not be at the cost of serious debates and bills to be passed.

Taking a trip down memory lane, in her farewell address to MPs as President, Pratibha Patil on Monday said disruptions in Parliament should not be at the cost of serious debates and bills to be passed.

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Patil, who will demit the country's highest office on Wednesday, recalled that the thought of becoming President did not cross her mind when she translated then President R Venkataraman's speech from English to Hindi during his oath taking ceremony in 1987.

"As deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha…on the occasion of the oath-taking ceremony of President R Venkataraman, I read out in this (Central) Hall, the Hindi version of his inaugural speech. I did not know at the time that 20 years later, I myself would be taking oath," she said.

Flanked by Vice President Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the President chose to speak in Hindi and was heard in rapt attention by the country's law makers, who included UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, PM Manmohan Singh, his cabinet colleagues, senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Patil said varied political thinking were part of any legislature and more so in a country as large and diverse as India.