New Delhi, July 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BJP MPs on Tuesday that he was "thankful" to the opposition parties for bringing a no-confidence motion against his government which, according to him, provided the ruling dispensation an opportunity to expose their political "hollowness".

The Prime Minister's remarks came during a meeting of BJP parliamentary party, which felicitated Modi for defeating the no-confidence motion.

"The Prime Minister double-thanked and gave multiple compliments to opposition parties which brought the no-confidence motion and helped the ruling party to bring before public its achievements and pro-poor policies. It also provided an opportunity to expose their hollowness," said a senior BJP leader who was present in the meeting.

The Prime Minister also said that at this stage no political party would have moved the motion.

"The BJP and NDA utilised the opportunity provided by the immature opposition parties. This has given us a chance to explain the success story of NDA to the whole nation," the BJP leader quoted Modi as saying.

Talking to reporters after the first BJP parliamentary party meeting in the ongoing Monsoon Session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the opposition brought the no-confidence motion despite knowing that the numbers were not in their favour. The motion was defeated by 195 votes.

"They used the occasion to target us without facts and figures. Their hollowness was exposed before the people," Kumar quoted Modi as saying.

Kumar said that Modi also praised Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's speech on the motion and asked party members to take it to the people.

Besides Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Land and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari addressed the meeting.



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Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.

HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.

The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.

It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”

The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.

Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.

HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.

The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”

Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.