BJP MPs including Union Cabinet ministers Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi gave a rousing welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday as he arrived at the parliamentary party meeting. Chants of ‘Modi ji ka swagat hai’ along with rounds of applause echoed inside the Balayogi Auditorium in the Parliament House complex as PM Modi went down the stairs to reach for his seat in the front row.

The Prime Minister was welcomed with a garland and shawl offered by BJP national president JP Nadda.

The BJP meeting, held for the first time during the Winter Session and after the party’s victory in three states- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, comes amid suspense over the selection of chief ministers in these three states.

Addressing the lawmakers at the parliamentary party meeting, the PM shared the credit for the mandate that the party won with the party colleagues and is learn to have said that the party will need to move forward with a collective spirit.

He also asked the MPs not to address him as Modi ji or aadaraniya Modi ji as people know him as “Modi” and adding adjectives would put a distance between him and the people. “I am a small karyakarta of the party and people think that I am part of their family. Don’t add adjectives like Shri or adaraniya as people think of me as one of them and as Modi” he is learnt to have said.