No-Confidence Motion updates: Congress demanded the PM make a statement about Manipur in both houses.
The Day 1 of the debate on the No-Confidence Motion against the Narendra Modi government saw the Congress arguing against "precedent" in Manipur and accusing the government of creating a great divide in the state
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Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who opened the debate, said the opposition bloc INDIA was forced to bring the no-confidence motion against the government to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "vow of silence" on Manipur. He alleged that a government which talks about "one India has created two Manipurs -- one living in the hills and the other in the valley".
He also brushed off the government's argument that no Prime Ministers have spoken on Manipur after previous instances of violence, pointing out that the BJP's iconic leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had visited Gujarat during the 2002 communal riots.
Mr Gogoi said there are three reasons why PM Modi is "silent" -- "failure of the state government", "failure of the home department and national security arrangement", and because he does not want to accept that he made a mistake. "Manipur demands justice… If Manipur is burning, whole of India is burning," Mr Gogoi said.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju said the Opposition will regret bringing the No-Confidence Motion because it comes at the "wrong time and the wrong manner", given India's current stature in the world.
He also questioned how the Congress is flagging Manipur today, since during the days of the UPA government, "We repeatedly begged (then Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh to pay a little attention to the northeast".
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said PM Modi in the BJP parliamentary meeting earlier this morning said that this is not a vote to express distrust in the government, but to see who can trust whom in the opposition. Targetting former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, he said she now "has only two jobs -- 'Set' the son and give presents to the son-in-law."
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi questioned why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute. Congress sources had earlier said Rahul Gandhi, freshly reinstated in parliament, would open the debate. Sources said Mr Gandhi will speak on August 10 – the day PM Modi is also expected to address the Lok Sabha.
Nationalist Congress Party's Supriya Sule slammed the BJP, questioning how it is a party with a difference. "In nine years, you have toppled nine state governments. You talk of doubling incomes, whose incomes have been doubled? They talk of Vande Bharat, but it is not for the poor. There is inflation, unemployment, malnourishment... This government is anti-farmer, which is why we have no confidence in this government," she said.
Besides Kiren Rijiju, four ministers will speak during the debate -- Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Ten other BJP MPs are also participating in the debate.
The government has argued that after major violence took place in Manipur in 1993 and 1997, no statement was made in the Parliament in one case and in the other, the junior home minister had given a statement.
The opposition contends that in view of the 170-plus deaths, injuries, and displacements of thousands of people since the ethnic violence broke out in May, there is nothing more urgent that can demand the Prime Minister's attention.
