PM Modi lauds NCP, BJD for adhering to parliamentary norms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday praised Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for strictly adhering to parliamentary norms, saying they never protested in the well of the House and asserted that other parties, including BJP should learn from them.

"Today I want to appreciate two parties, NCP and BJD. These parties have strictly adhered to parliamentary norms. They have never gone into the well of the House. Yet, they have raised their points very effectively. Other parties including mine can learn from them," he said at a discussion on 250th session of Rajya Sabha here.

Modi's praise for the Sharad Pawar-led NCP comes at a time when there are speculations of the party forming a coalition with Congress and Shiv Sena.

Giving a new twist to the emerging political scene in Maharashtra, Pawar on Monday said that the path of NCP and Congress is different from that of BJP and Shiv Sena's.

He made the comments in the backdrop of Maharashtra coming under President's Rule last week after all the parties failed to form a government in the state.

BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 105 seats in the 288-member assembly, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena, that bagged 56 seats, remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister's post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by Governor BS Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government, failing which the President's Rule was imposed in the state on November 12. The NCP won 54 seats while its ally Congress garnered 44 in last month's assembly election.