"Manipur Does Not Matter": Chaos In Delhi Assembly Over BJP MLA's Remark

A BJP MLA's comment that "Manipur does not matter to anyone" sparked chaos in Delhi Assembly today, during which four BJP MLAs had to be marshalled out.

AAP's Durgesh Pathak had started a short duration discussion on the violence in the northeastern state that has been on since May 3. The BJP MLAs rose in protest, contending that only issues related to Delhi should be debated in the House.

Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla questioned the MLAs over their protest. "Do they feel that Manipur is not an issue to be discussed in the Assembly? The UP Assembly also discussed the Manipur issue," she said.  

BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht from Karaval Nagar brushed off the Manipur issue, saying the events in the state does not matter.  The Deputy Speaker responded saying issues concerning Delhi are being discussed since morning, but was the opposition "seriously participating in the discussion?"

But the MLAs refused to relent. Mr Pathak said it was unfortunate the BJP did not want a discussion over the issue. Led by him, AAP legislators also raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Soon, the BJP's Abhay Verma, Jitender Mahajan, Ajay Mahawar and OP Sharma were marshalled out of the House.

The Manipur issue had rocked the monsoon session of parliament, with the Opposition moving a no-confidence motion against the government, hoping to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the issue.

The Prime Minister, however, did not mention for the matter for 90 minutes and only spoke about it for a couple of minutes after the Opposition walked out of parliament.