“Rajya Sabha is a reflection of our diversity”: PM Modi at Rajya Sabha’s 250th session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Rajya Sabha is the soul of India’s federal structure. The prime minister was addressing the upper House of Parliament on its 250th session.

PM Modi said Rajya Sabha has both created and witnessed history. “Rajya Sabha is a reflection of our diversity, it gives an opportunity to people who are not in electoral politics to contribute to the country’s development,” he said.

Whenever it has been about national good, the Rajya Sabha has risen to the occasion and made a strong contribution.

It was believed that the Bill on Triple Talaq would not pass here but it did.

Even GST became a reality after it was passed in the Rajya Sabha: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 18, 2019

Modi had said that the House has published many important legislations and it has been a “journey of ideas”. “Who can forget that it was through the Rajya Sabha that a stalwart like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar could contribute even more to national progress,” PM Modi said.

Quoting former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi said, “In 2003, Atal Ji had said that the Rajya Sabha may be the second house but no one should think of it as a secondary house. Today, I echo the sentiments of Atal Ji and add that the Rajya Sabha must be a vibrant supportive house for national progress.”

To mark the landmark 250th session, the upper House held a discussion on the ‘Role of Rajya Sabha in Indian Polity: Need for Reform’ on Monday.

According to a Rajya Sabha Secretariat statement, a coin, a postal stamp and two publications, one of which would describe the house journey since 1952, will also be released to mark the occasion.