Amid the complete washout of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a breakfast meeting with newly inducted NDA MPs, urging them to actively participate in parliamentary debates while reassuring the six former Uddhav Sena MPs who recently joined the Shinde Sena that they had nothing to worry about.
Addressing the 20 NCP(I) MPs, who broke away from the TMC to join the NDA, and the six former Uddhav Sena MPs, the Prime Minister urged them to participate in parliamentary debates and read, learn and understand parliamentary history.
“There is a wealth of material on Parliament’s history available. Use it to prepare for debates,” he told the 26 MPs who recently joined the NDA from Opposition parties.
The Prime Minister also asked the MPs to focus on the development of their respective states and constituencies. He urged the newly inducted Shiv Sena MPs to make full use of the government’s resources to accelerate development in their constituencies and advised them to approach the Prime Minister’s Office directly if they encountered any hurdles in executing development projects.
“Work for the development of your respective states. Only when the states progress will the country move forward,” he added.
PM Modi also had a special message for the six former Uddhav Sena MPs who joined the Shinde Sena only last month.
In his outreach to the six MPs, the Prime Minister reassured them, saying: “No one needs to worry. I am with you. The NDA is a family. We stand with our constituent parties.”
PM Modi later held a separate meeting with the Shinde Sena MPs and even spoke in Marathi. Welcoming them to the NDA fold, he said, “Everyone will be respected, and everyone will be given an opportunity.”
The Prime Minister also said that he stood not only with NDA members but with every MP. Reiterating his message to the former Uddhav Sena MPs, he told them they had no reason to worry.
The BJP has been trying to expand the NDA ahead of the Monsoon session in a bid to secure support for key Constitutional Amendment Bills, including those on the removal of Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers and delimitation, which require a two-thirds majority in both Houses.
With the induction of 26 MPs following splits in Opposition parties, the BJP-led NDA’s strength in the Lok Sabha has risen from 293 to 319, leaving it 41 seats short of the special majority.
The NDA has publicly embraced the former Opposition MPs. NCP(I) president and chief whip Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a former close aide of Mamata Banerjee, was seated in the front row alongside Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari during the NDA parliamentary meeting a week into the Monsoon session.
From PM Modi’s closed-door meetings with the new entrants to giving them front-row seats, the NDA has sought to send a clear message: the newly inducted MPs will be treated on par with the alliance’s existing members.
– Ends
Published By:
Sayan Ganguly
Published On:
Aug 7, 2026 12:09 IST
