Opposition: Opposition brought no-trust motion to test confidence of own bloc: PM to BJP MPs | India News

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday referred to the opposition parties dubbing the voting on the Delhi services bill in Rajya Sabha as the “semi-final before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections” as he congratulated BJP lawmakers for winning it with a comprehensive majority.

“We heard that a few leaders had projected the voting in Rajya Sabha as a semi-final before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Even in the voting on the Delhi services bill in Rajya Sabha, the government got more votes than expected as the debate showed that the bill was guided by the Constitution,” the PM, according to party sources, said in the BJP parliamentary party meeting and once again exuded confidence about BJP’s prospects in the national elections.
Modi’s reference was apparently to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s remarks in Patna that the voting on Delhi bill in Rajya Sabha could be a semi-final before the next year’s polls.
The Delhi services bill secured parliamentary approval on Monday after Rajya Sabha passed it with the support of 131 MPs while 101 of them voted against the legislation that will give the Centre control over bureaucracy in the national capital.

Modi said the opposition brought the no-confidence motion against his government to test the confidence of its own alliance members in each other as the INDIA bloc is marked by distrust among its constituents.

In his address to BJP MPs at a closed-door meeting of its parliamentary party, he described the opposition alliance as “ghamandia” (arrogant) and congratulated the party’s Rajya Sabha members for the “semi-final” win in voting on the Delhi services bill, some of those present inside said.
Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal quoted Modi as saying that the opposition brought the no-confidence motion despite the fact that the government enjoyed a strong majority as its members wanted to see if they were united or not.
Exuding confidence about his return to power following next year’s elections, Modi told MPs that they will not have to push for railway ministry-related works during his third term after railway minister Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made a presentation, indicating that the ongoing development projects will take care of their demands.
With the governing party certain to defeat the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, where it enjoys a strong majority, Modi told party MPs to hit “sixers” on the last ball before the 2024 polls. He also referred to his 2018 speech in which he had wryly wished the opposition to bring a no-confidence motion against his government in 2023.
In a swipe at opposition parties, the PM said their leaders speak of social justice but harmed it the most with their dynastic, appeasement and corrupt politics.
Meghwal told reporters said the PM asked MPs to join the party’s programme on August 9 on the call for nepotism, corruption and appeasement to quit India.
He asked them to organise events to mark the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day and also to take out silent marches to highlight the pain of India’s partition.