Replying to the Motion of Thanks on President Kovind’s address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday called India as the “mother of democracy.” Expressing gratitude to all the parliamentarians, PM Modi said the credit for battling the pandemic goes to the citizens and not to the government. He also said that the world has recognised India’s potential to tackle the pandemic. Taking a jibe at the opposition for boycotting President Kovind’s address, PM Modi said, “It would have been better had the Opposition heard the President’s address. But it is the power of his speech that without hearing his speech, the Opposition spoke a lot about it.”
"At around 10:30 am today in the Rajya Sabha, PM Narendra Modi will reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) tweeted.
The President makes a special address on a statement of government policy that has to be approved by the Cabinet. Discussion on the matters referred to in the President's Address takes place on a motion of thanks moved by a member and seconded by another member.
The Prime Minister will reply to this motion in the Rajya Sabha today.
On Friday, the marathon debate in the Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President's Address concluded with 50 speakers from 25 political parties taking part in the discussion which was spread over three days.
The discussion was one of the longest such debates with high participation of members, said officials.
Eighteen members from BJP, seven of Congress and 25 from other parties had participated in the debate for which nearly 15 hours had been allocated.
The government and opposition parties had agreed to extend the time for discussion on the motion of thanks to 15 hours.