New Delhi: parliamentary budget meeting In an unprecedented move, the Lok Sabha passed a motion of thanks for the President’s speech, but the Prime Minister did not respond as per custom.This is the first time since 2004, when the motion passed without a reply from the Prime Minister. In 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was “prevented from speaking by the Bharatiya Janata Party”.The Prime Minister was also absent from the House on Thursday when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla discussed the opposition’s vote on amendments to the motion of thanks, but all the amendments were rejected. The Speaker then read out a motion thanking the President for his speech in the House and Senate on January 28, which was passed by voice vote despite repeated slogans from opposition members.Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to deliver a speech at 5 pm on Wednesday, but he did not reach the Lok Sabha. At the start of the meeting, opposition female MPs surrounded the Prime Minister’s chair and put up protest posters. The House adjourned amid uproar and the speech was eventually cancelled.Prime Minister Modi is now likely to deliver a speech in the Lok Sabha and the debate on the motion to thank the President for his speech is going on without interruption.
When Manmohan Singh was not allowed to speak
Congress cited a 2004 precedent to rebut the current criticism, recalling that on June 10 that year the BJP blocked then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from replying to the motion of thanks for the President’s address. “Recall and reminder – On June 10, 2004, the BJP blocked the Prime Minister from delivering a speech on the motion of thanks to the President for his speech,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X.He also shared an old video of Manmohan’s second year speech, when he said in the House, “This is a hard-earned privilege for me as I had to wait a whole year to complete this gratifying task.”Ramesh quoted Singh as saying: “Mr. Speaker, I consider it an honor to stand here today and address the esteemed Rashtrapatiji to the members of both Houses of Parliament to express the gratitude of our government. Sir, this is a hard-earned honor for me as I had to wait a whole year to complete this gratifying task. I would like to take this opportunity to double thank the President for his speech last year and for his speech this year.”
