At BJP Meet, PM Modi's Shoutout To Amit Shah, Message To Bihar Allies

PM Narendra Modi's speech at the Parliamentary meeting of NDA MPs was marked by his outreach to allies, recognition of their strengths and most importantly, a shout out to his colleague and home minister Amit Shah.

The five most important takeaways:

1. PM Modi commended Union Home Minister Amit Shah for being the longest serving Home minister after LK Advani. He said he had a long way to go and that this was just the beginning, sources said. 
2. He spoke on the efforts made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to get people like George Fernandes, Bal Thackeray and Nitish Kumar together. Vajpayee had referred to Nitish Kumar as "babu",  PM Modi said. Had that not happened, it would have given a lot of time to others (Opposition) to "spoil the state with filthy politics," he added. 
3. PM Modi said the NDA believes in letting the stronger ally take the lead and play on its strengths -- a message specifically for poll-bound Bihar, aimed at reaching out to allies that are strong regional players.  
4. PM Modi also, according to sources, lashed out at the Congress, saying it was a strategic blunder by the Congress to demand a discussion on  Operation Sindoor.  
5. PM Modi called the Opposition's demand for a debate on Operation Sindoor a strategic blunder, saying they lost badly in the discussion. Without naming Rahul Gandhi, he referred to Supreme Court observations and contrasted the Opposition's stance on the Constitution with their resistance to the scrapping of Article 370. He invoked Kashmir and the Ram Temple, urging MPs to also promote sports.

The INDIA bloc, meanwhile, isn't backing down. Parties like Trinamool Congress, DMK and RJD, apart from the Congress remain firm on demanding a full discussion on SIR. 

While offering a middle path via broader electoral reforms, they believe silence on such a critical issue is not an option, especially ahead of their planned march to the Election Commission on Thursday.