NEW DELHI, DEC 19 : With the curtain coming down on heated debates, fiery speeches and protests along with the Lok Sabha session, Speaker Om Birla hosted a tea party which the members representing the opposition parties chose to attend this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tea party is a customary gathering hosted by the Speaker after the end of every session to ease the heated atmosphere on a note of cordiality and goodwill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Opposition had stayed away from the meeting since the 2024 Monsoon Session when the opposition members were not allowed to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, this time around, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared lighter moments with Opposition MPs over a cup of tea, even responding promptly to a complaint by opposition MPs about the session being brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to TNIE, Congress sources said the party decided to attend the tea hosted by the Speaker and the Chairman following a decision taken by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to sources, while the Opposition remains opposed to the bills, they felt the Chair was relatively fair during this session. This, they said, was in contrast to the previous session, when they were not allowed to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources in the know said Modi praised RSP MP NK Premachandran, calling him one of the best parliamentarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi reportedly said Premachandran always does his homework before debates, a view that was agreed on by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, Union Minister of Law Arjun Meghwal and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meeting is said to have been cordial and lasted for nearly half an hour during which he interacted with all the MPs. During the interaction, Opposition leaders remarked that the session should have been longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reacting to the comment, Modi joked, \u201cI didn’t want to strain your voice so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also said, \u201cI hope you all got enough time to speak during the debate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources added that Modi also spoke to Priyanka Gandhi about an ayurvedic medicine from Wayanad during the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PM also inquired Selja Kumari about the Haryana assembly session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi was absent during the final week of the Winter Session as he was on a three-nation tour of Jordan, Ethiopia and Oman. He returned on the final day of the session, which was adjourned amid Opposition protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-PTI<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW DELHI, DEC 19 : With the curtain coming down on heated debates, fiery speeches and protests along with the Lok Sabha session, Speaker Om Birla hosted a tea party<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-146711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-new-delhi"],"yoast_head":"\n