President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday urged all political parties to “rise above partisan politics” to serve the country which is a “huge family”. In an emotional farewell speech on Saturday, a day before his tenure ends, Kovind thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his council of Ministers, all MPs, and Governors and invoked Mahatma Gandhi in his address here at the packed Central Hall. He was addressing MPs from both Houses of parliament.
Flanked by vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the President said, “Five years ago, I took oath as President of India here in Central Hall. All MPs have a special place in my heart.” He thanked Naidu and Birla for their support during his tenure.
“I am obliged and thank you all...I tried to fulfill my duties to the best of my capabilities and took inspiration from my all predecessors,” he said. His comments were greeted with thumping of desks by MPs. Ahead of his speech, Kovind was felicitated with a farewell dinner at Prime Minister Modi’s residence.
President-Elect Droupadi Murmu will take oath as the 15th President of India on Monday. She will be the first tribal person to occupy the country’s highest constitutional post. Kovind congratulated Murmu and said, “The country will benefit from her guidance.”
In his short speech, Kovind emphasised the value of peace and harmony, saying people have a right to oppose and create pressure to pursue their goals, but their methods must be Gandhian.
He asked political parties to “rise above partisan politics in the national interest and decide what is necessary for the welfare of people.”
In the backdrop of continuous derailment of proceedings in the two houses of Parliament, Kovind sought “parties to rise above party politics to serve the country”.
He said any family differences do crop up in Parliament too but they can be resolved by dialogue.
“When we see India as a big family, we realise ways to resolve disputes. Mahatma Gandhi used peace and non-violence to instill harmony...we must adopt his ways. MPs should always follow the Gandhian philosophy while exercising rights of debate and dissent in Parliament,” he said.
Calling Parliament a “temple of democracy”, he said, “As in any family, sometimes there are differences of opinion even in Parliament. But we are all members of the ‘Parliament family’ whose top priority is to continue working in the interest of the big joint family of the nation.”
The outgoing President highlighted in his tenure celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Gandhi, “Swachata abhiyan” and the 75th anniversary of Independence. As a special reference, he reminded the difficult period of Covid-19 which, he said, taught lessons to humanity that it cannot live disconnected with nature and “is not above it” and that “entire humanity is one”.
He mentioned as commendable the handling of Covid-19 by India and giving 200 doses of vaccines to the country’s population.
“World is struggling because of Covid pandemic. I hope we learn lessons from the pandemic, we forgot that we are all part of nature. In difficult times, India’s efforts were praised all across the world”, he said. Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker spoke highly of Kovind and praised his contributions in different capacities in his long political career.
Kovind, hailing from Kanpur, was elected President on July 20, 2017 and administered oath by then Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, to take office as the 15th President on 25 July 25, 2017.