Meet NDA MPs often, PM tells ministers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed his ministers to meet NDA MPs at regular intervals after some BJP MPs had complained that they do not get appointments with Central ministers and most of them are inaccessible.

Some of the ministers, including Ram Vilas Paswan, Smriti Irani, Maneka Gandhi, Ravi Shankar Prasad and M. Venkaiah Naidu, have already held such sessions with party MPs from different states. MPs from Rajasthan had held “breakfast sessions” with Mr Paswan and Ms Irani while Chhattisgarh MPs met Ms Gandhi and Mr Prasad in the last couple of days.

Mr Naidu held such a meeting of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir MPs on Wednesday.

Sources disclosed the PM was not happy with party MPs complaining they are not able to raise important state and other issues with Central ministers. The ministers, it is learnt, have been asked to give feedback of their meetings with party MPs to the PMO. The ministers, sources disclosed, have been asked to have regular dialogues with the party MPs and also get updates on issues, including various Central schemes, their implementation and their impact on the masses.

A UP BJP UP had raised the issue of ministers being inaccessible during one of the parliamentary party meetings during the Budget Session and his views were supported by some of his party colleagues. On other occasions too, BJP MPs had raised this issue with senior leaders.

During the meeting of J&K and Punjab MPs with Mr Naidu, the MPs were informed that the NDA would launch a massive campaign against the Congress for stalling key bills.