New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked across the aisle to greet opposition members after congratulating Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting her fourth successive Union Budget on Tuesday.
Modi seen interacting with Trinamool Congress leaders Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and Saugata Roy in the Well of the House, after Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
Roy said he asked the prime minister to recall West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, who is involved in a public spat with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Roy said Modi responded saying, “You retire and then we will see.”
“He obviously wanted to probably to deflect the issue,” Roy said.
Modi was also seen engrossed in a chat with Congress members Kodikunnil Suresh from Kerala and Francisco Sardinha from Goa. Sardinha said the prime minister was inquiring about the Goa Liberation Day function held in December, where he was among the few attendees from the Congress.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had walked out of Lok Sabha soon after the presentation of the Budget.
The prime minister also warmly greeted Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and was seen shaking hands with former Telecom Minister A Raja.
Modi also seen exchanging greetings with former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, DMK member Dayanidhi Maran and RSP member N K Premachandran.
YSRCP member Krishna Devarayulu Lavu, Independent member Navneet Rana too were seen greeting the prime minister.