Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to speak in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Mr. Modi is likely to speak after 4 p.m. and will participate in the constitutional and intolerance debates that have been raging in the Parliament over the last few days.
Earlier, the > Opposition-sponsored debate on intolerance continued in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with the Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi saying that the BJP MPs were asked not to make provocative statements as it deflected from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental agenda.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said members were also briefed about the recent elections, including one in Bihar where BJP suffered a big defeat, and the need to work to spread the party ideology was stressed.
“MPs were told to speak with understanding and decorum. There is a need to avoid controversy... At a time when the Prime Minister is pushing ahead with his development agenda, many people are unable to digest it and any misstep will allow anti-BJP forces to work it to their benefit. We should avoid making provocative statements,” Mr. Naqvi said.
He said the debate on the issue of intolerance was “unmasking” those who were misleading the country and added that the party MPs were told that communal riots were controlled under the BJP-led NDA government and there was social harmony everywhere.
The “constructive discussion” between Modi and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also flagged in the meeting. We have all hopes that developmental issues will be discussed and passed, Mr. Naqvi said.
> Read: Editorial - A gathering interrogation
Tyagi slams govt. over Dadri lynching
Earlier, during the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Janata Dal (United) MP, K.C. Tyagi highlighted the low figure of Muslims who occupied the post of the Speaker and Chief Minister in the country.
He went on the criticise the Prime Minister over his silence on the Dadri lyinching saying, "the PM wished Mahesh Sharma on his birthday but did not have time to speak to Mohammad Ikhlaque's son (who was killed for allegedly consuming beef)".
"We are not with UP govt now but at least they were sensitive to Ikhlaque's family and compensated them with Rs 45 lakh and plots in Noida".
Mr. Tyagi said Dr. Ambedkar refused to leave the country (over intolerance), but he left the religion itself and embraced Buddhism.