Rajya Sabha pays tributes to former MPs L Ganesan, Suresh Kalmadi

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday paid tributes to erstwhile members of the house L Ganesan and Suresh Kalmadi and former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia, who passed away recently. Soon after the house met for the day and before the laying of papers, Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan read out the obituary references for Khaleda Zia and the two former members.

The house stood in silence as a mark of respect for the departed. Later, the chairman said the Secretary General will convey to members of the beloved families our sense of deep sorrow and deep sympathy. Reading out the reference for Zia, he said, “I refer with profound sorrow to the passing away of Begum Khaleda Zia, former prime minister of Bangladesh and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party”. Begum Khaleda Zia passed away on December 30, 2025, after a prolonged illness.

“She was the first woman prime minister of Bangladesh and served in the office three times between 1991 and 2006. She also served as the leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001.

Begum Khaleda Zia made important contributions to the development of Bangladesh and to Indo-Bangladesh bilateral relations,” the chairman said.

Lok Sabha pays tribute to Ajit Pawar, Khaleda Zia

New Delhi: Lok Sabha on Wednesday paid respect to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia and five of its former members who passed away recently. As soon as the House met after the President’s address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the secretary general laid copies of the address.

Speaker Om Birla read out obituary references on Pawar, Zia, Shalini Patil, Bhanu Prakash Mirdha, Satyendra Nath Brohmo Chaudhury, Suresh Kalmadi and Kabindra Purkayastha. The House was then adjourned for the day. Pawar, a former Lok Sabha member, was killed in an air crash on Wednesday.

In his remarks, Birla said Zia’s role in strengthening the India-Bangladesh relationship will always be remembered. While Patil was a member of the seventh Lok Sabha, Mirdha was a part of the eleventh Lok Sabha. Chaudhury was a member of the tenth Lok Sabha, while Kalmadi was an MP in the eleventh, fourteenth and fifteenth Lok Sabha. Purkayastha was a part of the tenth, twelfth and fifteenth Lok Sabha.