Prime Minister Narendra Modi couldn’t hold back his tears, while addressing opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad during the latter’s farewell in Rajya Sabha.
After Azad delivered heartfelt speech, bidding goodbye to politics, PM Modi also reflected back on their relationship and the
“The person who will replace Ghulam Nabi ji (as the Leader of Opposition) will have difficulty matching his work because he was not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House,” PM Modi said in the upper house.
Live from #RajyaSabha | "I got the chance to be here, in the Parliament, because of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi," #GhulamNabiAzad says. "Indiraji used to say, 'remain in touch with Atalji, not BJP'." https://t.co/qA8XeYYQ2u pic.twitter.com/LJ5Uw7yvYL
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) February 9, 2021
Reflecting back at an incident of terror attack in J&K, PM Modi remembered how Mr. Azad called him up first, with tears in his eyes, at which point, the Prime Minister got emotional reminiscing over the past moment.
“Azad ji was the first person to call me. That call was not just to inform me about the attack, tears were rolling down Azad ji’s eyes while speaking to me on the phone,” the PM said.
In emotional farewell speech, Ghulam Nabi Azad says feel proud to be Hindustani Muslim
Read here: https://t.co/MSbUvP9PXv#ITCard #Parliament #India #RajyaSabha #GhulamNabiAzad pic.twitter.com/ytby3sy6cN
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) February 9, 2021
“Pranab Mukherjee was the defence minister then. I asked him if an Air Force plane could be spared to bring back the bodies. He assured me to arrange one. Then, Azad ji called me again in the night and he was at the airport. He spoke to me like he was worried and concerned as a family member,” PM Modi said, fighting back tears.
Watch his heartfelt speech below:
Great to see opposition leaders showing mutual respect towards each other in a unified cause towards the nation.
A rarity, indeed.