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'Your one-liners are wit-liners': What PM Modi said at Venkaiah Naidu farewell
Monsoon session: VP Venkaiah Naidu's tenure ends this week. Last week, Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected as the country's 14th Vice President.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday delivered a heartfelt speech in Rajya Sabha to mark Vice President Venkaiah Naidu's farewell. During his tenure as the Rajya Sabha chairman, PM Modi said, VP Naidu helped in “upward journey” of the upper house. The productivity of the upper house increased in his tenure, the prime minister highlighted.
“The one liners of Venkaiah Naidu ji are famous. They are wit-liners. His command over the languages has always been great,” PM Modi said in Rajya Sabha. ”One of the admirable things about him is his passion towards Indian languages. This was reflected in how he presided over the House. He contributed to increased productivity of the Rajya Sabha."
“I have worked with Naidu ji closely over the years. I have also seen him take up different responsibilities and he performed each of them with great dedication,” the prime minister added.
Vice president Naidu’s tenure ends on Wednesday. Last week, Jagdeep Dhankhar, backed by the NDA, was elected as his successor.
Stressing that India is celebrating 75 years of independence this year, PM Modi said: "This time as we celebrate India's independence day, the President, Vice President, Speaker and Prime Minister - all of them would be people born after Independence. And that too, each of them belongs to very simple backgrounds."
The monsoon session of Parliament saw multiple disruptions with the opposition protesting against inflation among other issues. The Rajya Sabha saw suspension of over 20 MPs, and a new record of highest number of MPs being suspended in a single batch.
Meanwhile, Dhankhar will succeed Venkaiah Naidu as India's 14th Vice President. Amid buzz that the monsoon session may be cut short, it is not clear if he would preside a session in the upper house this week.
Several historic bills - including that of scrapping status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 were passed during VP Naidu's tenure.
