Over the last week or so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met MPs of all prominent alliance partners of the NDA. Apart from exchanging pleasantries and forging a strong bond between the BJP and its allies, the meetings have left the MPs with valuable take-aways. For the younger and first-time MPs, particularly, the meetings with the PM have been inspiration and a source of mentorship.
In the series of meetings the Prime Minister had with parties like the TDP, JD-U, Janasena and LJP (Ram Vilas), politics was hardly part of the conversations.
“I am an MP just like you. I can clearly understand what issues you will face. Do not hesitate to call my office or share your concerns with me. I am always available to you,” a TDP leader quoted the PM as saying. The TDP MP said he appreciated the PM’s attempt at building a personal connect with alliance partners.
In the recent lok Sabha election, Chirag Pawan came out with flying colours, winning all the five Lok Sabha seats that his party contested. The first-time MPs from his party were reportedly “amazed” to see the kind of motivating messages that the Prime Minister came up with.
“He told us that we have an amazing M-Y combination. We were wondering what it means and then he explained that it means the ‘Mahila’ and ‘Yuva’ combination. This actually let all of us in splits. The way he described the importance of empowering the poorest of the poor was extremely emotional,” an LJP leader told News18 after the meeting.
A Janasena leader said: “The emergence of Pawan Kalyan will act as a biggest influence on the youth, given his dedication and how he channelised his star power. The welfare of the state is something that needs to be imbibed by a lot of young politicians. The way the Prime Minister spoke about what qualities are required to become a good leader and not just an elected member of Parliament was very noteworthy.” The Janasena, TDP and BJP have an alliance not just at the Centre but at the state-level too where it won the Assembly elections as well.
With the MPs from Nitish Kumar’s JD-U, PM Modi spoke about how Bihar has been plagued by the lack of development over the last many decades. “Go to the ground and get your feedback from the people and understand their problems. When you are able to solve it, it will give you more satisfaction than anything else. After all, we are all representatives of the public,” a JD-U leader quoted the PM as saying.
The Shiv Sena had been the natural ally of the BJP for a long time, but since the party split, Eknath Shinde has been leading the ruling faction. “You should work for the people and not get carried away by the narrative that your opponents are trying to create. If you diligently do your job, you will be able to control the narrative. There is no other success formula except hard work,” a Shiv Sena MP quoted the PM as saying, adding that it touched him when the PM spoke from his detailed experience.
“Right from checking on the health of former union minister Ashok Gajapati Raju’s hospitalized wife to checking on the health and well-being of Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi truly knows how to build a personal connect with whoever he meets,” an MP who recently met Modi as part of this delegation told News18.
“There was a very important message for the newcomers who are practically trying to understand the nuances of Parliament. There is no bigger treasure of knowledge than the experience of MPs who have been coming here for years. One must be a student who can absorb all this knowledge and it will only help you perform better in the days and times to come,” said the Prime Minister to the NDA MPs.
In the recently concluded NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, apart from motivating all the MPs who have been elected to the 18th Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister had valuable advice for new MPs as well. “Be vigilant and be very careful because, in Delhi, you will come across many people who will promise you the moon and will tell you that they will do everything for you. But you must always do your due diligence and never fall for the trap. Ask someone experienced when in doubt,” an NDA MP quoted the PM as saying after the meeting concluded on Tuesday.
Besides the NDA MPs, PM Modi has been giving important counsel to his cabinet colleagues as well. More than 30 members of the Council of Ministers are first-timers. “The Prime Minister has always been very positive in his feedback and gives very constructive advice. It’s been less than a month that the new cabinet has been in place, but there has been so much to learn,” said a Union Minister.
“He told us we must learn from our seniors and from the senior officers of our department. He said we should engage them and meet them, and that we would always come back with a learning or two from their experience,” the minister added.
As far as the Prime Minister’s meeting with the NDA MPs recently in Parliament is concerned, it was not all work and no fun. “The PM cracked up on how an MP promised that he would lose and maintain his weight. He said that not only has the MP kept his weight intact, but has also gained political weight,” a source said.
For Chirag Paswan, whose father Ramvilas Paswan was also a cabinet minister in the Modi government, it was an emotional meeting. A few moments in the meeting were spent remembering his late father. Similar is said to be the experience of Milind Deora who reminisced about later father Murali Manohar Deora with the Prime Minister.
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