March 18, 2026
Saket Gokhale’s farewell speech on his retirement from Rajya Sabha
Mr. Vice Chairman. Sir, I can never forget the day of 11th July, 2023. I was at that point living in Kolkata, having spent about six months in jail in a politically-motivated case where I was imprisoned in Gujarat on the grand charge of money laundering five hundred rupees. It had been two months, just two months, since I had been released from jail — I was released in May and this was July — on that evening of 11th July, Sir, I suddenly got a call from my leader, Shri Abhishek Banerjee, at 10 p.m., when he told me, ‘Saket, our Party would like to see you in the Rajya Sabha. Wish you the best of luck and we expect that you give your best.’ Sir, this was not a call that an average person can ever expect to get. For a young 36 year old man, with no political background, who grew up in a 450 square feet one bedroom house, I had never imagined this even in my dreams. Growing up with the middle class, we are taught early that dreams should be the same size as our modest houses. You dream as big as your house is. In the middle class, where we come from, we are always told that politics is not for people like us, which is why I want to start by expressing the deepest gratitude to my leaders, Ms. Mamata Banerjee and Mr. Abhishek Banerjee, who showed me that there is indeed a place in politics for young people, no matter where you come from, as long as you are prepared to give your 100 per cent in the service of the nation and our people. I am extremely proud to say that I belong to a party where the only criteria that matter are your merit and performance, and not your family background. I was extremely fortunate to take my oath in the old Parliament building. In every moment I spent there, I could feel the spirits of our nation’s founders reminding me of the immense responsibility that I had been entrusted with. I spent numerous moments sitting quietly in the Central Hall and being in awe of the values and struggles that our great nation and its Constitution have been founded upon. Sir, I count myself immensely fortunate that albeit for a brief period, I shared the membership of this august House with former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. As a journalist, I had a brief encounter with him in 2011 in Kuala Lumpur where he made a passing remark saying, we need more Indians living abroad to come back to India and serve the nation. I never thought that providence would work in such a mysterious way and give me the privilege twelve years later to work in the same room as him. Sir, I took immense pleasure in serving in this House with not one but two Congress Presidents – Shrimati Sonia Gandhi ji and Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji. Both these leaders have showered an immense amount of love and kindness upon me. And I am very grateful for that. There are several hon. Members from whom I have learnt a great deal during my tenure in the House. I do not want to talk about myself. For me what is important is what I have learnt during my tenure here. First and foremost from my Party Leader, Shri Derek O’Brien, I learnt how to be an effective parliamentarian by watching his interventions that have always left a powerful mark in this House. He has been my mentor who has taught me almost everything that I know today. I know about politics as well as about life because of his contribution in my life. One lifetime will not be enough to thank him. Sir, from my colleagues in the DMK, I learnt the importance of cherishing my language and my heritage. I have been fortunate enough to serve on the JPC with the hon. Member, Shri P. Wilson. I have drawn upon his immense legal wisdom. When I first entered this House, I was a raw young man with very little knowledge of how to conduct myself in Parliament. I will forever be grateful to Shrimati Jaya Bachchan who very gently scolded me once and told me to focus on my strengths and make positive contributions. Today, I hope I managed to make her proud. Sir, I share a very unique bond with two senior Members of this House – Shri Sanjay Singh and Shri Sanjay Raut, because we all have had the honour of spending time in jail fighting for what we believe in. Shri Sanjay Singh and Shri Sanjay Raut are probably two of the bravest men that I have met in my life. From these two hon. colleagues, I learnt how to get rid of fear, to dust myself off after a setback and to keep fighting with all my might. Sir, I learnt from my colleagues in the CPI (M). From Dr. John Brittas, I learnt how humour can be a powerful tool when combined with passion. Every day I am amazed at his ability to disarm his opponents with his wit and banter. I will forever be grateful to this House for giving me a colleague, a friend and a confidante like Shrimati Priyanka Chaturvedi, who has been one of my biggest sources of support and encouragement. As we both retire from this House at the same time, I am very lucky that this House has given me a friend for life. Sir, I have been very privileged to sit in this House and observe the interventions of some of India’s greatest legal luminaries like Shri Kapil Sibal, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shri Vivek K. Tankha and several others. Some day, when history of our present time is written, the names of these hon. jurists will be written in golden words for everything they have done in our country today to protect fundamental rights. Sir, I have been lucky to firsthand experience a master class in economics in this House every time former Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram, made an intervention. A 30-minute speech by Shri P. Chidambaram teaches us a lot more about economics than any textbook can. Sir, I want to thank the hon. Leader of the House, Sri J.P. Nadda, for the kindness he has shown me as a young first-time MP during my tenure. His politeness and grace is something that every parliamentarian should admire. Despite our political and ideological differences, I have been privileged to have some deeply meaningful interactions with my colleagues from the Treasury Benches. It is a very sad reality of the times that if I mention their names, they will get into trouble with their leadership. So, I am not going to do that. All I wish to say, Sir, therefore, is that I am grateful for all the positive interactions I have had with my colleagues from the BJP and other parties on the Treasury Benches. They know who they are, and I have been very fortunate to spend time with them. Sir, most of all, I am very, very grateful to have served with the finest MPs who are my fellow colleagues from the second largest opposition party, the All India Trinamool Congress. We are a Party that epitomizes teamwork. Each and every colleague of mine has taught me some very valuable lessons that have shaped me not only as an MP but as a person. My colleagues in Trinamool have always supported me. They have got my back. We are famous in this House. No matter how many Trinamool MPs are there, when one is speaking, everybody will sit together. That is the power of Team Trinamool. There are no words that can do justice to the immense privilege I have had to serve with each and every member of Team AITC. Sir, I also wish to thank our former Chairman, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, who, I admit, gave me numerous opportunities during supplementary questions. Several times, outside in the lobby, he encouraged me to ask sharp, pointed and meaningful questions. That is when I started really participating in Question Hour. I also wish to thank our current Chairman for the immense changes his guidance has brought to this House where all the Members today get an adequate amount of time to make their interventions. The productivity of our House has sharply increased, thanks to the way the current Chairman conducts the proceedings. I do not have any words of wisdom today on how our Parliament functions or should function because much has been said about it over the years. Deep down, I know that this Government is also extremely aware of how they have undermined and destroyed the prestige of this House with their actions. All I wish to say is, power comes and power goes. Rajya Sabha is a great microcosm of our nation because while Members might come and go, this House, as we say, is perpetual. Therefore, I only wish that this House continues to be driven by the values of humility, cooperation and grace. Sir, in conclusion, I wish to profoundly thank the people of my State of West Bengal for adopting this young guy from Maharashtra and sending him to the Rajya Sabha. I leave today only with the hope that I managed to live up to their expectations as well as the people of India. I will continue to serve our nation in every way possible, even outside this House as a dedicated soldier of Trinamool Congress and do everything to fight for the rights and justice of our people. Thank you. Jai Hind! Jai Bangla!
