Work as team, follow rules in House: Modi at NDA Parliamentary meet

Prime Minister Modi urged NDA lawmakers to familiarize themselves with constituency issues, increase parliamentary participation and focus on teamwork

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged lawmakers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to acquaint themselves with issues pertaining to their constituencies, spend more time participating in parliamentary affairs, refrain from speaking to media out of turn, and focus on working as a team, people familiar with the matter said.

Modi said the opposition’s “arrogance and ego” prevented it from accepting that the result was a mandate for the NDA to form government for the third straight term (ANI )

At the first meeting of the NDA’s parliamentary party since forming the government at the Centre last month, emphasis was on cooperation and collaboration among the alliance partners. Referring to the June 4 results of the Lok Sabha elections, which he hailed as a big win for the NDA, Modi said the opposition’s “arrogance and ego” prevented it from accepting that the result was a mandate for the NDA to form government for the third straight term, one person aware of the details said.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said the PM shared an important “mantra” with all the lawmakers of the NDA. “...He (PM) said that every MP has been elected to the House to serve the nation. Irrespective of the party they belong to, service to the nation is our first responsibility. Every NDA MP has to work by prioritising the country,” Rijiju said.

Modi also guided the NDA lawmakers on how they should conduct themselves. “He said every MP should present the matters of their constituency in the House very well (and) as per rules. He also told us to develop expertise in other issues of interest — be it water, environment, or social (sector) area, and urged NDA MPs to follow the rules of Parliament, the Parliamentary democracy system and conduct, which is essential to becoming a good MP,” Rjiju said. “I think this guidance by the PM is a good mantra for all MPs, especially first-time MPs.”

It is customary for Modi to address BJP lawmakers during Parliament session, but since the party has had to rely on 14 allies to form government at the Centre for the third straight term, the meeting included MPs from alliance partners as well. The BJP, which won 240 seats in the elections to the 543-member Lok Sabha, fell short of the half-way mark, and could form government for the third time after securing support from the allies.

Modi is learnt to have underlined the need to have regular meetings between the allies and appoint a spokesperson for the alliance. The focus on keeping the allies close is an indication of the BJP having recalibrated its approach to the partners. In 2014 after the BJP came to power at the Centre with a clear majority and in 2019 when it retained power with a bigger mandate, the BJP fell out with some of its old allies, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), which are now part of the ruling NDA at the Centre and run coalition governments with the BJP in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively.

Hailing the recent poll results as the big win for the ruling alliance, Modi said the “arrogance” and “ego” of the “ghamandia gathbandhan” (arrogant alliance) — an apparent reference to the opposition INDIA bloc — prevented it from accepting the verdict, a person aware of the details said.

Without taking any names, Modi also said only one family has a problem accepting that the NDA has returned to power for the third time in a row. Modi said the family, an oblique reference to the Gandhis, have had a problem honouring prime ministers who do not belong to their clan, a second person privy to the details said.

“He urged the lawmakers to visit the PM museum and get a first-hand account of how the BJP government has shown respect to PMs of all parties,” the second person said.