He came. He ate with them. And, suggest reports, he won them over.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi caught fellow MPs by surprise when he asked them to join him for lunch at parliament canteen.
“Am going to punish you today, come with me,” the Prime Minister was reported saying in jest to the MPs.
Rice, daal, khichdi, til ka laddoo were among the fare served at the vegetarian lunch.
Ram Mohan Naidu from TDP, Ritesh Pandey from BSP, BJP’s Ladakh MP Jamyang Namgyal, Union Minister L Murugun, Sasmit Patra of BJD, BJP’s Maharashtra MP Heena Gavit were among the attendees.
During the 45-minute lunch, MPs, cutting across party lines, asked about the Prime Minster’s lifestyle, when he wakes up, and how he manages such a packed schedule.
“It was purely casual, cordial meeting with the PM for lunch at MPs’ canteen. It was a good gesture,” one of the MPs present at the lunch told NDTV.
“It did not feel like we were sitting with the Prime Minister,” said another.
Covering a range of subjects, the Prime Minister spoke about his impromptu visit to meet Nawaz Sharif, his foreign tours, the Statue of Unity, among others.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the Abu Dhabi temple, for which he laid the foundation stone in 2018. It is the first Hindu temple project in Abu Dhabi, the PM said, underscoring India’s soft power.
Post lunch, the Prime Minister directed his officers to pay.
