Venkaiah Naidu presents mementoes to retiring Rajya Sabha MPs Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal

New Delhi [India], April 1 (ANI): Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Thursday presented mementoes to retired and retiring Members of Rajya Sabha which included Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal.

A cultural programme along with dinner was hosted by Naidu at his residence to mark the farewell to the retiring 72 MPs.
A group of MPs sang together at the event a popular Bollywood song "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna".
Tamil Nadu MP Tiruchi Siva sang a Tamil song to bid farewell to the retiring Rajya Sabha MPs. TMC MP Dola Sen sang a Bengali song. BJP MP Roopa Ganguly sang Rabindra Sangeet at the event.
Earlier in the day, in his farewell speech, Naidu said, "A vast pool of considerable legislative experience, domain knowledge, Parliamentary skills and proven performance in the House is retiring. It is not often that such a pool of performers retires in one go."
The retirement of about one-thirds of the members of Rajya Sabha, once in two years, has turned out to be a unique event this year with several firsts marking the retirement of 72 members.
For the group photo taken on such events, which is a coveted item for both the retiring and the continuing members, a record turnout of 203 members of Rajya Sabha was reported this morning including 23 women Members, sources said.
Chairman of Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh and Ministers, who are members of the House, were also in the frame along with the other members. (ANI)