Modi asks party MPs to focus on conduct, governance

Asks them not to voice differences in public, not to get disillusioned over small issues

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked newly-elected party MPs to focus on their conduct both in Parliament and in public as people were observing them and directed them to nurture their constituencies and spread the message of good governance.

After inaugurating a two-day workshop for over 150 newly- elected Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs of BJP, Modi told them to realize that with the transition from Opposition to treasury benches, they had bigger responsibilities on them.

Asking them not to voice their differences in public and function as a family, the Prime Minister also told them not to get disillusioned over small issues as "there is no full stop in politics".

"To be a member of Parliament is an important thing and one must look at it seriously. Remember, people are observing your performance not only in the House but even outside.

"Our transition from Opposition to treasury benches is not limited to moving of few seats to the other side. This is a significant transition and we must try to appreciate the meaning of this," Modi said at the meeting.

He also dwelt briefly on performance of MPs in Parliament and stressed on the importance of brevity and focus in Parliamentary speeches.

Appealing to party MPs to eschew all kinds of negativism, he emphasised that their approach to the party has to be that of mutuality and fellow-feeling.

"We are a family and all are working for a common goal. Try to make new friends, learn from each other and develop a new collectivism," he said.

Reminding the party MPs that training for BJP is not just a ritual, he said the party has a long tradition of capacity building.

Attacking the Congress, the Prime Minister asked the party MPs to highlight the fact that the policies nurtured by Congress in the last few decades have not been able to mitigate the suffering of the people and solve their problems.

Taking a dig at those ridiculing such training camps for MPs, Modi said, "Lack of training in political establishment is a serious lacunae but unfortunately, many outside politics take efforts for human resource development very lightly and sometimes even try to ridicule such efforts".

Modi asked party MPs to develop a sense of mission towards their duties and asked them to study in order to have deeper understanding of various subjects.