New Delhi: The ministers nominated to the Narendra Modi cabinet were given a dressing down by the Prime Minister for not heeding his advice and speaking to the media before the portfolio distribution, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed his displeasure to the new parliamentarians at a ceremony held in his official residence at 5 pm, ahead of oath taking at Rashtrapati Bhavan Thursday. “He asked them why they had not stuck to the advice that he had given them during the NDA parliamentary party meeting just days ago,” sources said.
The stern reaction came as a few of the MPs, who got calls from BJP president Amit Shah’s office confirming their berths in the Modi cabinet, spoke to the electronic media. They were asked whether they had received the call, which they confirmed on record and thanked the prime minister for posing trust in them.
This, sources added, did not go down well with Modi. “He, in a stern way, asked the to-be ministers whether they have forgotten what he had told them,” said a source.
This is what PM told ministers
According to the sources, the PM had asked the parliamentarians present at his residence to contain their excitement till they assume charge of their respective ministries.
“Assume charge, understand the ministry or take stock of the work you have already done and then speak to the media,” a source quoted the Prime Minister as having said. “It would be beneficial then.”
Sources added that without taking any names, the PM laughed at how there were a few ministers who had a tendency to “address the nation” every morning.
The prime minister is known to be secretive about government functioning and this was evident even in his first term. During Modi’s first tenure several administrative decisions were taken to prevent leakages from the government. This included setting up of CCTV cameras in the ministries and not allowing cameras into cabinet meetings, sources added.
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