Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed his gratitude to the people of Assam for making it possible for him to file nomination for the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time since 1991.
"I have come to file my nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha. Assam has done a great service to me by sending me to the Rajya Sabha. I cannot be grateful enough to the people of Assam," Singh said in his brief interaction with the reporters here.
"I have been an MP from Assam for 21 years. I shall endeavour to accelerate the development of Assam so that poverty and diseases are eliminated from the state in the next 10 years," he said.
The Prime Minister's Upper House term expires on June 14 and polls for two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam will be held on May 30.
80-year-old Singh arrived from Delhi this morning and went straight to the Legislative Assembly, where he held a meeting with the members of the Congress Legislature Party before filing his nomination.
After submitting his papers, the Prime Minister left immediately for Delhi.