Moments after the Union Budget 2022-23 was presented and Lok Sabha adjourned on Tuesday, an interesting conversation took place off the camera when Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the well of the House and met the leaders of opposition parties.
There were evident lighter moments during the conversation amid the perpetual political battle between the treasury benches and the opposition in and out of the Parliament.
The leaders whom the Prime Minister met included Congress leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC's Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Saugata Roy, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, DMK's A Raja and Navneet Kaur Rana, an independent MP who represents Amravati in Maharashtra.
An interesting conversation took place between the Prime Minister and Saugata Roy, who is known for his wit as well as sharp attacks on the government.
Recounting the brief conversation, Saugata Roy toldthat the Prime Minister enquired about his well-being and then moved on to meet the other leaders.
Saugata Roy referred to West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and told the Prime Minister that "he was creating a lot of disturbance" in the state and he should be removed.
PM Modi, who is known for his witty repartee, responded to Roy and enquired when will the MP retire
"When will you retire......," Saugata Roy said quoting the response of PM Modi.
What followed was friendly witty banter between the TMC MP and PM. Recounting the interaction to ANI, Roy said he asked a second time about the West Bengal Governor's term and PM responded... "when will you retire?"
The Prime Minister's remarks left the TMC leaders, especially Saugata Roy, in splits.
The BJP and TMC fought a tough assembly election in West Bengal last year.
The repartee came a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she had "blocked" the state governor on Twitter for his "unethical and unconstitutional" statements.
Dhankhar responded had through tweets and said dialogue and harmony amongst constitutional functionaries is the essence and spirit of democracy and the mandate of the constitution.
( With inputs from ANI )
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