BJP parliamentary party meet: PM Modi felicitated says opposition had no reason to move no-trust motion
NEW DELHI: The BJP parliamentary party on Tuesday felicitated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recording a convincing victory against the united opposition during the No Trust motion debate and voting in the Lok Sabha on July 20.
At the first meeting of BJP lawmakers since July 20 debate and voting, Mr Modi's stellar leadership and a spirited reply after a day-long debate came in for appreciation at the meeting which was attended among others by party patriarch L K Advani.
BJP chief Amit Shah, former party president Nitin Gadkari and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also spoke.
In his response, the Prime Minister said felicitation should have been for all party MPs and not his alone.
But he made opportune use of the occasion to castigate Congress and other opposition parties for bringing the no-trust motion.
"Na hamare khilaf sankhya ki kami thi, na mahol tha (The Opposition members neither had numbers on their side nor the political atmosphere or mood was against the government)," the Prime Minister said.
The parliamentary party credited Mr Modi's leadership for the opposition's loss and exuded confidence that the BJP-led dispensation will continue to perform well.
"We could make use of the occasion of the debate in Parliament and highlight our works and achievements during last four and half years," the Prime Minister said.
In his brief speech, BJP chief Amit Shah said, in fact, the saffron party and the NDA should be "grateful" to the opposition parties to give such an opportunity to highlight the achievements and series of pro-poor measures undertaken by the Modi government since 2014.
As soon as the meeting began, among others, BJP chief Mr Shah offered a 'laddu' to the Prime Minister.
External Affairs Minister Ms Swaraj along with Mr Shah offered garland to Prime Minister.
Unlike other BJP parliamentary party meetings, seven chairs were placed at the stage for Tuesday's deliberations wherein top leaders PM Mod, Mr Shah, Mr Advani, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Mr Gadkari, Ms Swaraj and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar were seated.
Various important draft legislation like the one seeking to ensure more stringent punishment for rape accused has been passed in Lok Sabha.
The government also intends to push Triple Talaq Bill and a Bill to grant constitutional status to the OBC Commission Bill in the Rajya Sabha.