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Prime Minister Narendra Modi became emotional while bidding farewell to the Congress veteran and Rajya Sabha's leader of the opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad during the ongoing Parliament session. In his address to the Parliament, PM Modi said that the Parliamentarian who will replace Azad will have some really big shoes to fill in as the Congress stalwart was "not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House."
#WATCH: PM Modi gets emotional while reminiscing an incident involving Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, during farewell to retiring members in Rajya Sabha. pic.twitter.com/vXqzqAVXFT
ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2021
The Prime Minister also talked about the efforts of the former President of India late Pranab Mukherjee and Azad in rescuing people from Gujarat who were stuck in Kashmir due to a terrorist attack. "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. That night... Ghulam Nabi Ji called me...," a teary-eyed PM Modi, stopped for water after this.
Modi added, "He sounded concerned like people are concerned about their own family members. That is the kind of feeling he showed."
PM Modi followed this up with "Power comes and goes. But how to handle it..." and saluted Azad. Prime Minister Modi's camaraderie with Azad goes back to the time when the PM had not made his foray into pre-electoral politics. Talking about his camaraderie with the senior Rajya Sabha MP and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Modi said, "Before I entered electoral politics, I met Ghulam Nabi Azad Ji. He told the reporters that while you may see us fight on TV debates, under the roof of this house, we are family. I will never forget that."
The Prime Minister also gave the Parliamentarians a sneak-peek into Azad's passion other than politics-gardening in his speech. "I have known Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad for years. We were Chief Ministers together. We had interacted even before I became Chief Minister when Azad Sahab was very much in active politics. He has a passion not many know about- gardening," PM said.
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