New Delhi, 18 March

Rajya Sabha witnessed a rare light-hearted moment on Wednesday as Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge bid farewell alongside retiring member and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

In his farewell speech, Mallikarjun Kharge reflected on his long parliamentary journey before taking a playful dig at Deve Gowda. “I have known him for 54 years… he dated us, loved us, but married Narendra Modi,” he quipped, triggering laughter across the House, with the Prime Minister himself seen smiling.

Gowda later hit back, saying that he was in a "forced marriage" with the Congress but had to "divorce" the national party because it was an "abusive relationship".

Deve Gowda had headed the United Front government in 1996 with Congress's support. His party later allied with Congress in Karnataka in 2018, forming a government under his son, HD Kumaraswamy, before its collapse in 2019. The JD (S) later aligned with the BJP.

Devegowda was among 37 retiring members honoured during the Budget session. Modi reserved special praise for Gowda, Kharge, and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, calling them stalwarts who have spent more than half their lives in parliamentary proceedings.