In one frame, PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi attend Parliament 'tea meeting', photos go viral

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, attended the tea meet organised by LS Speaker Om Birla at the Parliament House after the conclusion of the second session of the 18th Lok Sabha. 

PM Modi, accompanied by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, were seen exchanging greetings with Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders. 

The current session of the Parliament was to end on August 12 but Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suspended the House sine die (for an indefinite period).

In the viral photos, PM Modi could be seen sitting on a sofa next to Speaker Om Birla. Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, was on a chair to the right of PM Modi.

August 9, 2024

Apart from PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah, and Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Chirag Paswan, Piyush Goyal, and opposition MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Kanimozhi were also in attendance at the unofficial tea meeting.

Om Birla, during the meeting, also revealed that the productivity of the House was above 130 percent.

During this session, Lok Sabha also passed many critical pieces of legislation, including the Finance Bill, 2024, and the Appropriation Bill, 2024 — both crucial for the Union budget.

The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2024, and the Indian Aircraft Bill, 2024, were among the four Bills passed. 

The session also glimpsed the introduction of a Bill to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, which was thereafter directed to a joint committee of Parliament after protests from Opposition members.