NDA’s ‘Mangal Milan’ Parliamentary Meet Pays Tribute to PM Modi and Welcomes Fresh Rajya Sabha Faces

The National Democratic Alliance kicked off its much‑talked‑about ‘Mangal Milan’ meeting on Tuesday inside the GMC Balayogi Auditorium, tucked in the Parliament Library building. The gathering was meant for two things: to salute Prime Minister Narendra Modi for becoming the longest‑served elected prime minister in India’s history, and to extend a warm parliamentary welcome to the fresh batch of Rajya Sabha MPs.

Modi arrived flanked by a small entourage of Union Ministers – Jitendra Singh, Kiren Rijiju and Arjun Ram Meghwal – looking every bit the statesman. Earlier in the day, a parade of senior cabinet‑room faces had already taken their seats: Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Dharmendra Pradhan, G. Kishan Reddy and BJP National President Rahul Sinha.

During the session, the NDA partners are slated to pass a congratulatory resolution that formally recognizes Modi’s historic tenure. The prime minister will then deliver a keynote address – a moment many expect to be peppered with both reflection on past achievements and a hint of the road ahead.

Freshly‑elected Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal, a BJP MP, couldn’t hide his excitement. “It’s my first NDA‑BJP parliamentary meet, and I feel privileged to hear the Prime Minister and our national president in person,” he told ANI. “Their guidance will be a guiding light for how I can contribute to the country’s progress.”

Not all parties were present under the same roof, though. The newly‑formed Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) – a 20‑member breakaway faction from the Trinamool Congress – has signaled its support for the NDA government but chose to sit out the joint gathering. The Lok Sabha speaker has yet to formally recognise the NCPI’s merger, prompting the splinter group to host its own inaugural parliamentary party meeting on Sunday.

Rebel TMC MP Sudeep Bandyopadhyay, who heads the NCPI, addressed reporters after the side meeting. He said the House had already cleared the faction’s seating allocation, division numbers and a separate legislative block. “We have decided to back the NDA government,” Bandyopadhyay declared. “If any of our West Bengal colleagues face issues in their constituencies, we’ll raise them with the state’s chief minister, not with Delhi.”

The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which began on Monday, will run until August 13, providing ample time for both the NDA’s celebratory proceedings and the NCPI’s nascent parliamentary activities to play out.

Overall, the ‘Mangal Milan’ meet served as a ceremonial bridge – linking the high‑profile celebration of Modi’s record‑breaking tenure with the practical onboarding of new legislators, all while the political landscape continues to shift with emerging factions like the NCPI seeking their own footing.