PM calls opposition parties ‘immature’ for no-trust move

MODI EXTENDS THANKS TO THE CONGRESS FOR THE MOTION THAT HELPED HIM EXPOSE ‘OPPN’S HOLLOWNESS’

NEWDELHI: Only an “immature party or a person” could have moved no-confidence motion against his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, extending “double thanks” to the Congress for the motion that helped him expose opposition’s hollowness and spread word about his achievements.

“I thank those who opposed the no-confidence motion against the government,” a party leader quoted Modi as saying at the weekly meeting of BJP MPS here. “I extend double thanks to those who moved it,” PM Modi said as he was felicitated at the meeting — the first such gathering after the no-confidence vote on July 20.

Supported by the Congress and other opposition parties, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) moved a no-confidence motion against the government but it was defected with 326 MPS voting against it and only 126 favouring it.

“We effectively highlighted the achievements of our government over the past four-and-a-half years,” Modi said, adding that a message went to the entire country about the hollowness of the opposition. He told MPS that Indians in Uganda also told him about the no-confidence vote and how the government countered it.

Modi said the motion brought by the opposition underscored its political immaturity and lack of understanding, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar later told reporters. Modi also praised home minister Rajnath Singh’s speech on the motion and asked party members to take it to the masses, Kumar said.

The meeting also saw top party leaders, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj, besides BJP president Amit Shah felicitating the PM and also speaking on the matter.

Shah targeted the opposition, saying such a motion is brought when a government loses its majority or there is unrest in the country, but there was no reason for it to sponsor such a move. Swaraj made a reference to the wide margin to attack the opposition, while Gadkari said it was spreading confusion over a host of issues among the masses and it lacked a real agenda.