Don’t get provoked by negative approach of the Opposition, PM Modi tells party functionaries

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday termed the Opposition undemocratic for disrupting proceedings in the two Houses of the Parliament. He also came down heavily on the Opposition MPs for “insulting the rules and procedures of the Parliament”.

Speaking to BJP MPs during the party’s weekly Parliamentary meeting, the Prime Minister talked at length about “the negative approach of the Opposition” in disrupting the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament in both Houses.

Incidentally, this session has been highlighted by an unending ruckus over the Pegasus snooping issue, with both the government and the Opposition hardening their stance.

In an apparent reference to claims by some of the MPs who have taken to social media to slam the passage of legislative proposals by the two Houses, the Prime Minister told the BJP MPs that such statements are an insult to the procedures of the Parliament.

While a TMC member in Rajya Sabha had torn the statement of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the Pegasus issue, several Opposition members had torn papers in Lok Sabha and threw it in the air. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi, while speaking to reporters, said the Prime Minister has asked MPs to exercise restraint in the face of provocations by the Opposition parties.

Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman is also learnt to have made a presentation to the BJP MPs on the state of the economy. She argued that the economy has not been affected by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.  She is also learnt to have given the account of measures taken by the government for various sector to address their concerns during the pandemic.