PM Modi to reply on motion of thanks for President's address in Lok Sabha today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply tomorrow in Lok Sabha on Motion of thanks for President's Address.  

The first session after the commencement of 17th Lok Sabha is underway. Earlier in the day, Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury mocked the BJP and said that it won 2019 elections because PM Modi was a 'very big salesman'.

The Prime Minister was present in the House while Chowdhury made these comments.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has been recently elected as Congress' Lok Sabha leader, continued mocking the BJP government during the session and questioned why did the Centre not arrest alleged 'thieves' Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi accused in scams like 2G, Coal scam. 

"Did you manage to catch anybody in 2G and coal allocation scams? Did you manage to send Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi behind the bars? You came to power by calling them 'thieves'. Then, how are they sitting in the parliament," asked Chowdhury, newly-elected Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha.

The 2G scam dates back to 2007-2008 when the Congress party was in power. It relates to the grant of 2G spectrum licence allocations, which caused, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the public exchequer.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also said the BJP returned to power as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a "very big salesman" and Congress failed to gain grounds in the 2019 general election as it could not market its products.

He charged the BJP government has developed "political plagiarism" syndrome and is only a "travesty of truth", saying it only tries to highlight its achievements ignoring the foundation laid down by his party.

However, Union minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rivals to respect people's mandate.

The ruling BJP chose Sarangi, who has hit headlines for his humble lifestyle, to initiate the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, and his an hour-long speech was high on its praise for Modi's leadership and nationalism pitch, drawing jeers from opposition benches.