Be refined, ready for parliamentary debates: Modi to BJP MPs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked BJP MPs to be more refined in their conduct as parliamentarians, do their own research and homework before participating in parliamentary debates and engage in government programmes and schemes.

Modi, who was seated in the last row, and other BJP MPs participated in a marathon training session in New Delhi. He also held informal interaction with several groups.

For interaction with the PM, BJP MPs were divided into five groups. The group on agriculture, water, social justice and health was moderated by Sanjay Jaiswal. The group on defence, external affairs, finance, IT and home was moderated by Baijayant Panda. All top Union ministers were present in Panda's group.

The group on power, petroleum, coal and industry was moderated by Shashank Mani. PP Chaudhary moderated the group on education and law. Bhartruhari Mahtab oversaw the group on railway, labour, urban affairs and transport.

In one of the groups, Modi emphasised that the rationale behind banning online gambling should be spread widely, especially in urban centres. The PM held freewheeling discussions with MPs and asked them to suggest out-of-the-box measures in their respective groups.

After the meeting, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said NDA MPs will also take part in the training session on Monday, a day ahead of the vice-presidential election.