Hon. Chairman Sir, there are some moments which are unavoidable. This is also one of those moments. Only in the agony of parting, do we look into the depths of love. Today, we are bidding you farewell only because it is customary. Sir, on behalf of my Party, and on my own behalf, I have a special regard for you. I shower upon you our thanks, appreciations and congratulations for your tenure as the Chairman of this august House. Sir, there are many things to recollect. Sir, in the forests, not all animals stand and look back. Only the lion100 can do so. It can look back the path it treaded. It alone can bring behind it all the animals120 in the forests in a disciplined manner. You are a lion; you can look back, for you have left very140 great practices. Sir, you started your life as a very good student. As a student leader, you started climbing the160 ladder. You never came down. You were a Member of the Legislative Assembly. You became the leader of your party. You became a Member of this august House. You were in the Opposition Bench. You were a Minister. Now, you200 decorated the post of the Vice-President, which is the second highest position in this country. Sir, we had great times with you as the Chairman of this House. One thing you will also appreciate. We might have disturbed you. We240 might have shouted for opportunities, but, at the same time, during our discourse, we have never come down the decorum of this House. You have appreciated many times that the debates in this House by all the party Members are280 par excellence. Sir, on this occasion, I think this is the right time and right place to put on record300 three things. The hon. Leader of the Opposition mentioned that only in Rajya Sabha, a Member can speak in any320 of the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, and it was only you who brought that into action. Wherever you go, you have advocated for the regional languages to cherish. You advised everyone to protect and360 enrich their mother tongue, but at the same time, learn some other language also. There is nothing wrong with that. Based on that alone, you have done some other things which many of our colleagues would not know but which400 I would like to put on record today. Sir, there has been a customary practice and convention in the Parliament.420 It is a British legacy. Whenever a Member or a Minister lays a paper on the Table of the House, the convention is to say, 'I beg to lay on the Table of the House'. Sir, I am a product of the self-respect movement. I had represented to your predecessors, and to the Government also, but nobody bothered. Sir, I480 must appreciate and thank you that you removed that word. Now with heads held high, every Member and Minister is500 just tabling the papers, not begging. They rise to lay the paper on the Table of the House. Secondly, all notices we used to send to the Secretariat were addressed to the Secretary-General, and we signed it saying 'Yours Faithfully'. It does not suit a Member of Parliament to write to an office, 'Yours Faithfully''. It is not a school.560 I represented it to you, Sir. You asked me for a substitute and I suggested 'Yours Sincerely'. Now all our notices are having 'Yours Sincerely'. I do not know about the other House. Sir, you upheld the dignity of the600 Members and you were always very much interested in upholding the decorum and dignity of this House. Sir, we cannot forget your tenure as the Chairman of this House. As my honourable friend has already requested, please write an autobiography,640 which will be your real contribution to the posterity of this country. With these words, I conclude my speech.
Mr. Chairman, Sir, it is a very poignant
day. I do not want to bid you farewell. I just hope that you will
stay on and on. But then, life has its own transitions. Sir, I want to
first thank you700 on behalf of my party, for your
service to the nation, for your service to this country, and for your720
service to this House. It has been only three years that I have come to
know about you personally, but it seems like a lifetime. Time is short. Hon.
Prime Minister was speaking about how you have always promoted the youth,
how you have promoted the regional languages, I will not elaborate on that. I
have brought evidence to the House today. The day was 7th February,
2020. The day before, I had been to your Chamber and800 you had asked me why I
did not speak in my mother tongue Oriya. The next day, I spoke in Oriya, which
was my first Zero Hour mention on a specific topic. You were in the Chair, Sir.
After a840
few minutes, I got a brief note of appreciation from you. Though there are
many evidences, I have brought this evidence because this was a note from you
to me and it is a memory of a lifetime. It will stay with me as long as
I am there. Sir, there are many young Members who are very new to900
the House. I just wanted to take this opportunity as to how you promoted
the young Members of Parliament. In August, 2020, suddenly I had a phone call
in the evening saying that I have been appointed to the Panel of
Vice-Chairmen of Rajya Sabha. I was surprised. I was only thirteen months into
Rajya Sabha. You said960 that you believed in me and asked me to
keep working hard. Sir, I will not take much time. You have always been a
friend of Odisha. Whenever we have brought matters of Odisha before you, you
have always given1000 us a patient hearing. Whenever there
had been matters of Odisha that had to be raised in the House, you
were always open to the idea of how we can develop more and more.
Whenever new Members of Parliament from across party-lines came up, you
encouraged them. Sir, your presence in the Chair gives us strength. Your
presence in the Chair inspired and motivated not only the Members of Parliament
of Rajya Sabha, but you have also inspired and motivated1080 every youth of the
nation. I say that with a great measure of humility. As my honourable friend
said, you1100
have more than 20 years of public life left. You will continue to inspire us
every day. We will continue1120 to cherish your memories every day.
With these words, I thank you for your wisdom and your leadership.
Hon.
Chairman, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity given to me. Needless to
mention, every Telugu person today is proud that this august House is
chaired by a Telugu man. On behalf of nine crore Telugu people, I say that you
have made us really proud. I speak on behalf of nine crore Telugu people. We
all feel proud of you.1200 I hail from your district. I have
attended so many of your public meetings as a student and we were all inspired.
Your political rise is inspirational for all of us. When you rise, we feel we
have risen. This is the inspiration what we have got from you. I really
appreciate your articulation and command over Telugu, Hindi and1260
English languages. The entire nation would recollect that on 5th August, 2019
when emotions ran high and this House was discussing the abrogation
of Article 370, your presence on the Chair gave strength to the regional
parties1300
like us at that point of time to speak freely. I take this opportunity to
appreciate your support that you have extended to the Standing Committees and
how, under you, the Parliamentary Standing Committees gained importance. You
reviewed from time to time and gave inspiration to the Chairpersons as
well as the Members of the Standing Committees. Sir, as you know, we are
from the opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. But, I have no
hesitation in lauding your clarity of conviction. Sir, you belong to the
category of statesmen with an organic thinking. You are a living example of1400
the great diversity of this nation. That is the underlying thread
of the unity of this country. Sir, when there is shrill chorus for uniformity
of behaviour, culture, language and even food, you stand tall as an example of
rich1440
diversity of this country. Many have spoken about your hospitality. I
have my own personal experience of almost three decades. As a journalist, I
have observed you shifting your base from Andhra to the vortex of
national politics. Sir, you are simply the king of hospitality. I do not think
anybody else in this House can match with it.1500 I would relish those
days when we had scrumptious meals at your house and also at your
party’s office. Sir, I think, I would be failing in my duty if I do not
spell out this point. There is a feeling amongst many people that you would go
down in the history as the President the nation has missed. Sir, I have been
seeing the House from inside, from outside, and from above. I cannot think of a
Chairman who got involved with the nitty-gritty of the House like you. We
will always miss you, Sir.1597
