The Rajya Sabha will host 53 farewell speeches on Friday, with that many members retiring before the next Parliament session in July. Nostalgia apart, that means some major changes in the make-up of the 245-member Upper House.
There are some big names on the good bye list; some may come back, some won't. The Congress, right now the biggest party in the house with 65 seats, will also be the biggest loser given its recent run in assembly elections and some of its most prominent faces may bow out or will struggle to return. 16 members from the party are retiring.
The BJP may gain some seats, but not enough to smoothly push important legislation in the Rajya Sabha, whose members are elected by state legislatures.
Five ministers are set to retire - Venkaiah Naidu, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitaraman, YS Choudhry and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a farewell speech for retiring MPs in Rajya Sabha. Over the next two months, 53 members will retire.
The Upper House will be adjourned sine die on Friday after customary farewell speeches by members who will retire in the next two months.
The Prime Minister conveyed his best wishes to the retiring members, noting their contribution to parliamentary proceedings.
However, he wished that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill had been passed during their tenure in the Upper House.
