Even as his 14-year Rajya Sabha term came to a close on Wednesday, AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan delivered an emotional farewell speech, vowing to return to Tamil Nadu politics. “After a long stint in Rajya Sabha, it is my turn to return to state politics. No doubt, it is sunset time for me in parliament but it will be a sunrise in the state,” he said. Vice President of India and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu said that the departing members of the House— AIADMK MPs T Rathinavel, V Maitreyan, KR Arjunan and R Lakshmanan along with D Raja of the CPI— had met with him and expressed a desire to make farewell speeches. Three MPs each from the AIADMK alliance and the DMK alliance have been elected in their stead from the state. This time, however, the AIADMK did not re-nominate Maithreyan, a man who was once seen as Jayalalithaa's voice in Delhi
A doctor by profession, Maitreyan had joined the AIADMK in 2000 after he quit as the state chief of the BJP. He recalled that he had been part of historic sessions of the parliament in his time as MP such as the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill, the lengthy debate on the Lokpal Bill, the infamous Indo-US Nuclear Deal. However, he confessed that he harboured a gripe against the Rajya Sabha.
“This House has witnessed many occasions where we have read obituary references, passed condolence resolutions to people who died, people who we may not have even seen, in some remote corner of the globe. We have observed silence as a mark of respect for them. But in May 2009, when more than one-and-a-half lakh innocent citizens, people from Tamil Eelam— who were my umbilical cord brethren— were killed in a genocide in Lanka, this House did not even take notice of it, leave alone passing a resolution of condolence or observing silence.” he said.
Breaking down, he added, “That will ever remain as a thorn in my heart. Since this House did not bother to do the basic human courtesy towards my brothers and sisters of Eelam, I urge that this House should not pass any condolence resolution or observe silence for me also whenever the situation arises.”
Fondly recalling his association with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Maitreyan pointed out that he was the only member of the AIADMK who was given a ticket to the Rajya Sabha three times. “My unalloyed loyalty to her will always be there,” he said as he was consoled by other MPs.
Maitreyan picked his side during the faction wars that erupted in the wake of Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016 and joined O Paneerselvam. He has continued to vent his ire against Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and his faction for overrunning the party and not honouring the terms of the merger between the two factions.
The departing MP also thanked former Union Minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley for considering him a brother and guiding him in the House. “I sincerely wish he had a speedy recovery from his illness and guides others also in future,” he said of the politician who opted of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet in May this year citing health issues.
Maitreyan also revealed that over the years, he had been a 'loyal emissary' between PM Modi and the late AIADMK supremo.
Ending with song lyrics from the 1977 Hindi movie Kinara, Maitreyan said, "Naam gum jayega, chehara yeh badal jayega, Meri awaz hi pehachan hai, Agar yaad rahe toh" which roughly translates to "The name and face may change, but my voice will remain the same if you care to remember me.”
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