Modi Holds Lunch Pe Charcha at Parliament Canteen

New Delhi: A day before the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha concludes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday ate lunch with some MPs, including the RSP’s N.K. Premchandran, the BJD’s Sasmit Patra, the TDP’s Ram Mohan Naidu, and the BSP’s Ritesh Pandey, at the MP's canteen in Parliament. The Prime Minister also invited BJP MPs Heena Gavit and Jamyang Namgyal and Union Minister L. Murugan for lunch, which lasted for around 45 minutes. The MPs, it is learnt, were taken by surprise when they received a phone call first from the Prime Minister's Office and then from the PM himself.

Sources say, with a smile on his face, Mr Modi told the members of Parliament, “Chaliye, aapko ek punishment dena hai (Let me give you a punishment today).” After the vegetarian lunch, which it is learnt, consisted of rice, daal, khichdi, til ka laddoo, et al, the Prime Minister also directed his officers to pay for the lunch. "Enjoyed a sumptuous lunch, made even better thanks to the company of Parliamentary colleagues from various parties and different parts of India,"



the PM tweeted later in the evening.

According to sources, during their interaction with the Prime Minister, MPs asked him about his lifestyle -- like what time he wakes up, how he manages such a packed schedule, and how he had never taken a single day off since becoming the chief minister of Gujarat and the PM of the country. The PM, it is learnt, also asked a range of questions on day-to-day topics and about the families of the MPs. 

He also spoke about his surprise visit to the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's granddaughter’s wedding, his foreign tours, and the Statue of Unity, among others. The discussions, sources said, did not involve any political issues. The Prime Minister, it is learnt, also talked about the Abu Dhabi temple, for which he laid the foundation stone in 2018 and is scheduled to be inaugurated by Mr. Modi on February 14. It is the first Hindu temple project in Abu Dhabi, underscoring India's soft power, the PM, it is learnt, told the MPs during the lunch.