Fmr PM and Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, Dr Manmohan Singh’s term ends in the Upper House after 33 years

Curtains came down today on Former Prime Minister of India and the former member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam, Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure in the Rajya Sabha after an illustrious term of 33 years in the Upper House of the Parliament.
Dr. Manmohan Singh is among the 54 members of the Rajya Sabha and nine union ministers who are scheduled to retire on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some not returning to the Upper House.
Dr Singh has served as the Prime Minister from 2004 to 14. He was also the first Sikh Prime Minister of India, and the third longest serving PM after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Singh was initially elected to the Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, in 1991 from the Assam legislature after becoming the Finance Minister in the then prime minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao’s government. He was a Rajya Sabha member from Assam for five continuous terms (1995, 2001, 2007, and 2013). Singh also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2004, when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power. In 1999, he contested for the Lok Sabha from South Delhi but was defeated by BJP’s Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
Ahead of Dr Singh’s retirement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday penned an emotional tribute to the former PM, praising his contribution to the country.
The Congress president said the former Prime Minister would remain a “hero” to the middle class and the aspirational youth.
In his letter, Kharge expressed hope that Dr. Singh would continue to be the voice of wisdom and moral compass to the nation by speaking to the citizens of our country as often as possible.