Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that all MPs should utilise the Budget Session of Parliament to debate matters of importance. He claimed that the society resents those who do not take an interest in Parliamentary debates, PTI reported.

“All small incidents reach the common man...due to this, those who do not have interest in discussions, resentment is generated against them,” Modi said outside Parliament before the start of the Budget session. The government will present the interim budget for 2019-’20 on Friday.

The prime minister said the discussions that lawmakers participate in inside Parliament will have a positive impression on their constituencies. “Whatever positive behaviour they show will give them positive benefit in the field as well and it also reflects on how people look at lawmakers,” he said.

Modi said his government’s goal is “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, and it is ready to discuss all matters in Parliament. “I will welcome discussions with an open mind, I will welcome smooth functioning of Parliament, I will welcome that all lawmakers work together for the construction of future India,” the prime minister added.

The Centre hopes to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, which will make triple talaq illegal, during this session.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 in order to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan if they have lived in India for six years, was passed by the Lok Sabha in January. However, it is likely to find opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and is being fiercely opposed by parties and civil society groups in the northeastern states.

Earlier in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind addressed both Houses of Parliament before the session began, listing out the Centre’s achievements since 2014. He claimed the country was passing through a difficult period before the 2014 General Elections, but the present government came out with an initiative to create a “new India”.

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned after Kovind’s speech, PTI reported. After the Lok Sabha was adjourned, the president’s speech was placed in the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House was adjourned after mourning the deaths of its former MPs, George Fernandes and Sitaram Singh.