Rajya Sabha to bid farewell to retiring members today

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha will on Thursday bid farewell to the retiring members of the Upper House of Parliament. M Venkaiah Naidu, the Rajya Sabha chairman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Piyush Goyal, who is also the leader of the House, and Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge will be among those who will speak on the occasion.

Naidu on Wednesday announced that Zero and Question hours will not be taken up on Thursday to enable the leaders to speak.

Five ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and six Congress members will be among the 19 members to retire in April. The retirements will bring down the Congress’s tally to 28 from 34. The BJP’s tally will come down from 97 to 92. BJP is the single largest party in the 245-member Upper House, which presently has 237 members.

Naidu will also host a dinner for Rajya Sabha members at his residence.