March 18, 2026
Derek O’Brien speaks on the retirement of Rajya Sabha members
Sir, to all the Members on the Treasury Benches and on the Opposition Benches who are moving on in the next few days and weeks to new jobs, new roles and new ways to make their political lives meaningful, on behalf of the Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party and the Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress, Ms Mamata Banerjee, I wish them the very best and greetings to each one of them. Sir, we will keep these speeches short, because today is not the day for the Floor Leaders; it is the day for those who are leaving. Sir, give them all the time they want. All or many of the MPs retiring today have set a record. I want to congratulate them for that. What is the record? They have been here for six years. But I think they are the only MPs who have been here for six years since 1950 and have worked under three Chairmen – Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar and now you, Sir. In six years, they have had this triple opportunity. There are many seniors who were mentioned. I wish them very, very well. If I leave somebody’s name out, it is not deliberate My senior colleague, Mr. Subrata Bakshi, who has been with our party right from day one, wouldn’t come to Parliament. We wish him a speedy and healthy recovery. Mr. Subrata Bakshi is from the Trinamool Congress. There are many others I want to mention. Many are coming back. But, some people, some seniors, have even opted out like the venerable Mr. Digvijaya Singh, who is always full of enthusiasm. Today, as we celebrate the experience of the septuagenarians and the octogenarians, I want to celebrate the contributions made by the young parliamentarians in Rajya Sabha, who are not even retiring. They are not retiring. They are merely having a job transfer to some other role in the party. They can’t retire because they are all in their 30s and 40s or early 50s. Look at my party! Mr. Ritabrata Banerjee is supposed to retire on April 2, but he has already taken up a new job this morning. He is in his early 40s. He is contesting an Assembly seat. Sorry! Not contesting, he is about to win an Assembly seat which will be announced on the 4th of May. He was a comrade at one time. So, Trinamool is an open place. He was National General Secretary of SFI. He has been with us. We also have had the pleasure of so many MPs being in the Parliament, like the Parliament. Some cynics say this is also the Parliament even though it looks like a convention centre, but this is our Parliament. There are more youth from different parties. Then, there is a very low profile MP I had the pleasure of working with in the Criminal Code Bill. He is very quiet and very efficient. You don’t see him on television cameras. No, he is not from Trinamool. He is Mr. Elango from DMK. He is a very, very effective parliamentarian. There are so many other young parliamentarians in the 30s and 40s like Shrimati Priyanka Chaturvedi, who has made an impact in Parliament and, of course, from my party, one of the finest resources we have in All India Trinamool Congress and we have so many things planned for him is Mr. Saket Gokhale. I wish all the MPs very, very well. The average age of the Rajya Sabha is about 61- 62 years. While we respect all the experience of the seniors, we are working very hard in Trinamool Congress because we are the second largest opposition party now in Rajya Sabha with our younger MPs and younger ideas. So, we have a beautiful mix of experience with youth. Thank you, Sir, for this opportunity and thank you very, very much. Jai Hind! Jai Bangla!
