Motion Of Thanks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address at 2 pm in Rajya Sabha on Thursday during the ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament

PM Modi's reply is expected to begin around evening in the House

A united Opposition embarrassed the government on Wednesday when for a second successive year it successfully voted in the Rajya Sabha to amend the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. The vote came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the Opposition to help the government pass key Bills and also withdraw its amendments to the Motion of Thanks. The President's address, delivered on the first day of the Budget session every year, is approved by the Union Cabinet and details the government's achievements of the past year as well as policies and programmes for the year ahead. Wednesday's was only the fifth instance in the last 60 years of a government having been so snubbed. For, the Opposition customarily moves hundreds of amendments to the Motion of Thanks, which by convention are withdrawn after the discussion. However, in a strategy identical to last year's, opposition members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday withdrew around 300 amendments barring one. The amendment