Amit Shah takes all questions in Modi's first presser as PM

In a veiled dig at the previous UPA government, Modi said, "India is the largest democracy in the world. In previous polls, even IPL couldn't be held. It is a matter of pride that now during elections IPL, Ramzaan, Easter, Hanuman Jayanti, school exams and other events take place peacefully."

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP President Amit Shah during a press conference at the party headquarter in New Delhi, Friday, May 17, 2019. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: In a surprise move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed his first press conference in 5 years, and asserted confidently that the BJP will come back to power with a full majority on its own. However, his refusal to take questions from journalists perhaps made the event a damp squib . The prime minister told reporters that he will not take any questions because the press conference is being addressed by Shah, and in BJP's system, discipline needs to be followed. "We are disciplined soldiers of the party," Modi said. "It will happen after a long time in the country, our Government will come to power with absolute majority for second consecutive time,"Modi said. In a veiled dig at the previous UPA government, Modi said, "India is the largest democracy in the world. In previous polls, even IPL couldn't be held. It is a matter of pride that now during elections IPL, Ramzaan, Easter, Hanuman Jayanti, school exams and other events take place peacefully." Modi said bookies lost all their bets on May 17, 2014. "Election results came on May 16, 2014. A huge casualty took place on May 17, 2014. Today is May 17. People in 'Satta bazaar' who used to bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses on May 17,"he said.

BJP will win 300+ seats. We have a pre-poll alliance. NDA government will be formed after elections, PM Modi will be nation's PM again. After May 23, our doors are open to other parties as well who believe in our agenda & ideology: Amit Shah, BJP chief to @JournoPranay pic.twitter.com/eswt5BiJY5

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) May 17, 2019

BJP president Amit Shah, who took all the questions questions,  gave a detailed report card of the campaigning as well as performance of the NDA government. On opposition's allegations that both Modi and Shah were responsible for lowering the political discourse during the election campaigning, the BJP president said "what else do you expect from the opposition? BJP has never initiated low quality debate, we never began it." Countering allegations leveled by the Congress against the Modi government on the Rafale deal, Amit Shah said, "There has been no compromise in the defence procurement procedure. There has been no wrongdoing of even a single rupee." Shah claimed BJP will do tremendously well in North East "We'll perform good in North-East, very good in West Bengal. Our performance will be good in Odisha and there will be improvement in number of seats in all the Southern states. We'll have an improved tally in Maharashtra as well," he said. Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi who conducted a press conference simultaneously, took  a swipe on PM Modi’s first ever media briefing. "PM Modi is doing a press conference, it is unprecedented. I am told the door of the room where PM Modi is addressing a press conference has been closed. I had told some journalists here to go and ask couple of questions from our side but believe they aren't allowed," Gandhi said. (WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE BELOW)