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Updated: Jun 04, 2020 06:52 IST

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday bid farewell to five of its members from Tamil Nadu who completed six years of their term, with one of them, V Maitreyan, breaking down while giving his farewell speech.

“At this juncture, I place on record a deep sense of gratitude towards my beloved leader, Amma (Jayalalithaa) for having immense faith in me and sending me to this House for 3 terms. She gave me the honour of being the only member from AIADMK to have been given membership to the Rajya Sabha for three terms. My unalloyed loyalty to her will always be there,” Maitreyan said.

Watch | AIADMK minister breaks down during farewell speech in Rajya Sabha

The AIADMK MP also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Finance Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Arun Jaitley.

“I would like to express my thanks to one person who has guided me throughout in this house and considered me as his brother, Arun Jaitley. I wish him a speedy recovery from his illness,” he said.

“I cannot forget my long time friend and Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom I know since the 90s and I have been a loyal emissary between him and Madam. I sincerely thank him for personal affection for me,” Maitreyan said.

The five members retiring on July 24 are Maitreyan, D. Raja, K.R. Arjunan, R. Lakshmanan and T. Rathinavel. While Raja is from the CPI, all others are from AIADMK.

House Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu appreciated the contributions of the exiting members in the law-making process and public service.

Senior leaders noted that they will miss the presence of the five, especially Raja.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)