Saurabh Mukherjee
Amid continued disruptions in Parliament over references to former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s unpublished book, the Lok Sabha passed the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address without a reply from the prime minister, marking a rare parliamentary moment.
This is the first such instance since 2004 and the first time ever that the motion was cleared in the absence of both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition speaking during the debate.
The motion was passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (February 5) amid sustained uproar from opposition benches. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were not present in the House. Only three MPs participated in the discussion before the motion was adopted.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla later told the House that he had advised the prime minister not to attend proceedings on Wednesday, citing security concerns. He said Congress women MPs had gathered near the prime minister’s seat and that any untoward incident could have taken place. The opposition, however, accused Modi of deliberately avoiding the House and being unwilling to face parliamentary debate.
While a Motion of Thanks was passed without a prime minister’s reply in 2004 as well, that instance followed BJP protests against allegedly tainted ministers in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. This time, the prime minister was entirely absent from the Lok Sabha proceedings related to the motion.
Modi, however, responded to the Motion of Thanks later in the Rajya Sabha. His speech was repeatedly interrupted by opposition slogans of “Let LoP speak,” leading several opposition MPs to stage a walkout. During his address, the prime minister launched sharp attacks on the Congress and other opposition parties.
Targeting the Congress, Modi said, “Those who are indulged in vote-bank politics never strengthen the important aspects. As far as the Congress party is concerned, I want to say clearly that they didn’t have any vision and as a result, the country had to suffer so much.”
He further alleged that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and the Congress leadership viewed citizens as a burden, adding, “I want to explain what Pandit Nehru’s and Indira Gandhi’s way of thinking was about the people of this country… When Pandit Nehru was asked how many problems were before him, he said: 35 crore. At that time, our country’s population was 35 crore…”
He also accused opposition parties of corruption, saying, “Congress, TMC, left parties had been in power for years, but they only filled their own coffers, didn’t work for people.”
On farmers, Modi said, “Our country has around 10 crore farmers who own less than two hectares of land. Congress never cared for them, but we felt their pain; therefore, we introduced the PM Kisan Yojana.”
He further alleged that the Trinamool Congress was protecting infiltrators and claimed his government was spending significant effort correcting the damage caused by previous regimes.
“It takes great effort to erase the image that was created in the minds of the world during that period, they left things in such a damaged state,” he said.
The parliamentary deadlock began earlier in the week during Rahul Gandhi’s speech on the Motion of Thanks in the Lok Sabha, when treasury bench MPs objected to his references to Naravane’s unpublished book, invoking Rule 349.
On Tuesday, Gandhi attempted to authenticate the book but was stopped again, following which eight opposition MPs were suspended. Protests escalated on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of Modi’s scheduled Lok Sabha reply.
Speaker Birla told the House that the conduct of opposition MPs in his chamber was unprecedented.
“With great pain I have to inform the House that the way in which some members behaved in the Speaker’s chamber, it has never happened before… Opposition members’ behaviour in the Speaker’s chamber was a black spot,” he said.
He added that he advised the prime minister to stay away after receiving information about Congress MPs gathering near his seat. “If this took place it would have torn apart the country’s democratic structure,” Birla said.
Outside Parliament, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra rejected the Speaker’s account, saying, “There was no question” of any threat to the prime minister.
She accused Modi of “hiding behind the Speaker” and said, “Yesterday, the Prime Minister did not have the guts to come to the House because three women were standing before the bench.”
Vadra also questioned why the leader of the opposition was being prevented from quoting publicly available sources, alleging that the government was avoiding debate.
“Why is the government not allowing the LoP to speak?… There is no discussion because the government does not want to discuss anything. That is a fact,” she said.
This is the first such instance since 2004 and the first time ever that the motion was cleared in the absence of both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition speaking during the debate.
The motion was passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (February 5) amid sustained uproar from opposition benches. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were not present in the House. Only three MPs participated in the discussion before the motion was adopted.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla later told the House that he had advised the prime minister not to attend proceedings on Wednesday, citing security concerns. He said Congress women MPs had gathered near the prime minister’s seat and that any untoward incident could have taken place. The opposition, however, accused Modi of deliberately avoiding the House and being unwilling to face parliamentary debate.
While a Motion of Thanks was passed without a prime minister’s reply in 2004 as well, that instance followed BJP protests against allegedly tainted ministers in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. This time, the prime minister was entirely absent from the Lok Sabha proceedings related to the motion.
Modi, however, responded to the Motion of Thanks later in the Rajya Sabha. His speech was repeatedly interrupted by opposition slogans of “Let LoP speak,” leading several opposition MPs to stage a walkout. During his address, the prime minister launched sharp attacks on the Congress and other opposition parties.
Targeting the Congress, Modi said, “Those who are indulged in vote-bank politics never strengthen the important aspects. As far as the Congress party is concerned, I want to say clearly that they didn’t have any vision and as a result, the country had to suffer so much.”
He further alleged that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and the Congress leadership viewed citizens as a burden, adding, “I want to explain what Pandit Nehru’s and Indira Gandhi’s way of thinking was about the people of this country… When Pandit Nehru was asked how many problems were before him, he said: 35 crore. At that time, our country’s population was 35 crore…”
He also accused opposition parties of corruption, saying, “Congress, TMC, left parties had been in power for years, but they only filled their own coffers, didn’t work for people.”
Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Be it Nehru ji, Indira ji, or the entire Congress, they have viewed the people of India as a problem. I have said this not only before the world but also before the nation, because it is my conviction that no matter how many challenges… pic.twitter.com/YhzilLe83s
— IANS (@ians_india) February 5, 2026
On farmers, Modi said, “Our country has around 10 crore farmers who own less than two hectares of land. Congress never cared for them, but we felt their pain; therefore, we introduced the PM Kisan Yojana.”
He further alleged that the Trinamool Congress was protecting infiltrators and claimed his government was spending significant effort correcting the damage caused by previous regimes.
“It takes great effort to erase the image that was created in the minds of the world during that period, they left things in such a damaged state,” he said.
The parliamentary deadlock began earlier in the week during Rahul Gandhi’s speech on the Motion of Thanks in the Lok Sabha, when treasury bench MPs objected to his references to Naravane’s unpublished book, invoking Rule 349.
On Tuesday, Gandhi attempted to authenticate the book but was stopped again, following which eight opposition MPs were suspended. Protests escalated on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of Modi’s scheduled Lok Sabha reply.
Speaker Birla told the House that the conduct of opposition MPs in his chamber was unprecedented.
“With great pain I have to inform the House that the way in which some members behaved in the Speaker’s chamber, it has never happened before… Opposition members’ behaviour in the Speaker’s chamber was a black spot,” he said.
He added that he advised the prime minister to stay away after receiving information about Congress MPs gathering near his seat. “If this took place it would have torn apart the country’s democratic structure,” Birla said.
Outside Parliament, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra rejected the Speaker’s account, saying, “There was no question” of any threat to the prime minister.
She accused Modi of “hiding behind the Speaker” and said, “Yesterday, the Prime Minister did not have the guts to come to the House because three women were standing before the bench.”
Vadra also questioned why the leader of the opposition was being prevented from quoting publicly available sources, alleging that the government was avoiding debate.
“Why is the government not allowing the LoP to speak?… There is no discussion because the government does not want to discuss anything. That is a fact,” she said.
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