Rajya Sabha second house, not secondary house: PM Narendra Modi

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Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi

New Delhi : Rajya Sabha may be the second house but it is not the secondary house, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday in his tribute to the upper house of the Parliament as it completed 250 sessions today. The upper house remains the soul of the federal structure, and provides an opportunity to stay away from the electoral politics and indulge in healthy discussions for the development of the nation.

Much of this is possible due to a unique mix of people who sit in the upper house -- "scientists, people from the field of arts and sports and more... who may not have been elected democratically".

"Everyone thought Triple Talaq will get stuck in the Rajya Sabha but it is maturity of this house that passed this significant bill and made it to a law. The same happened with the law on Section 370 and the landmark Goods and Services Tax," he said.  

Quoting former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, PM Modi said, "No one should make the mistake of treating our second House (Rajya Sabha) as the secondary house. It should remain being the supporting house for India's development".

The centre and state government must not compete, instead work in a direction to support the development of the nation. "The development of states and the nation aren't two separate things and are directly linked to each other. This house teaches and inspires this emotion best," he said.

The Rajya Sabha, he said, is about checks and balances. "This is absolutely essential ... here is also a difference between checking and clogging," he said.