Opposition Leaders Meet With Congress President To Discuss Monsoon Session

Leaders of several opposition parties met at the chamber of Mallikarjun Kharge in the Parliament complex to chalk out their joint strategy for the Monsoon Session which is set to begin today.

At the meeting, the leaders decided to raise the Manipur violence issue and demand a discussion on the situation in the northeastern state.

This was the first meeting of the opposition parties following the formation of their alliance 'INDIA'.

Several leaders of the Congress and other opposition parties have given adjournment notices in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for taking up discussion on Manipur and have demanded answers from the government.

Mr. Kharge, the Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has given an adjournment notice on the matter.

He said it has been nearly 80 days but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has neither visited the state nor spoken a word on the situation there.

"We will raise the Manipur issue and I have also given a notice in Rajya Sabha to raise the issue. We will see whether our Chairman allows us to raise it or not," Mr. Kharge told reporters.

"He has time to visit France, the United States. He has time to call 38 parties (NDA meeting), but did not have the time to visit Manipur though he has all the resources," he said.

In a tweet, Mr. Kharge said, "Modi government and the BJP have changed democracy and the rule of law into Mobocracy by destroying the delicate social fabric of the state.

"Narendra Modi ji, India will never forgive your silence. If there is any conscience or an iota of shame left in your government, then you should speak about Manipur in the Parliament and tell the nation what happened without blaming others for your dual incompetence -- both at the Centre and the state," he added.

Opposition parties have been questioning the silence of the prime minister on the Manipur situation ever since ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state on May 3.

Before the start of the Monsoon Session, Prime Minister Modi told reporters at the Parliament complex that the alleged incident of women being paraded naked in Manipur has shamed 140 crore Indians, asserting that the law will act with its full might and no guilty will be spared.

Among the leaders who have given notices demanding discussion on the Manipur issue, include Mr. Kharge, Naseer Hussain, Manish Tewari, Jothimani of the Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nama Nageswara Rao of the BRS.
 

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