The debate on the Opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government started in the Lok Sabha on August 8, with the Congress’s Deputy Leader of the House, Gaurav Gogoi, questioning the “maun vrat” (vow of silence) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Manipur and asking why he had not visited the strife-torn State so far.
Mr. Gogoi said the government that “talks of one India has today created two Manipurs and deeply divided communities are now talking the language of revenge against each other”.
The Congress member posed a series of questions on Manipur. He asked why the Prime Minister had not visited the State, why it took 80 days to break his silence on the State, and why Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had not been sacked.
BJP member Nishikant Dubey said the parties belonging to the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) had brought a no-confidence motion against a “poor person’s son” who had worked for the welfare of the people. Mr. Dubey then quoted the Prime Minister to say that the Opposition had brought the no-trust motion to test the confidence of its own alliance members in each other.
Attacking Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief Sonia Gandhi, who was present in the House, Mr. Dubey said she was following the tradition of Indian women of “bete ko set karna hai, damaad ko bhent karna hai [Has to set her son, and give gift to her son-in-law]“.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress and the other Opposition parties brought the no-trust motion at a “wrong time and in a wrong manner” as Mr. Modi had emerged as the world leader and the country was moving towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.
Sharp exchanges
The start of the debate witnessed sharp exchanges between Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Home Minister Minister Amit Shah and Mr. Gogoi.
Just when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called out Mr. Gogoi’s name, Mr. Joshi got up to ask why Rahul Gandhi was not opening the debate as his name was given to the Lok Sabha Secretary General’s office minutes before the proceedings started at noon.
When Mr. Gogoi responded by asking if remarks made by the Prime Minister in the Speaker’s chamber should be revealed in the House, Mr. Shah dared the Congress member to do so and asked him not to make unsubstantiated claims.
Mr. Gandhi, sources said, is now likely to speak on Thursday, the day Mr. Modi is scheduled to reply to the debate on the no-confidence motion. Mr. Modi was not present in the House when the debate got under way on Tuesday.
The debate not only saw Opposition leaders invoking former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s advice that rulers should follow rajdharama [duty of a ruler] without any bias but also repeated demands for the dismissal of Manipur Chief Minister.
Support from BJD
Pinaki Misra of the Biju Janata Dal supported the Modi government and opposed the no-trust motion but added that all parties should speak in one voice on Manipur as what was happening in the State was heart-rending.
DMK member T.R. Baalu invoked the late Vajpayee to remind the BJP government of its duty in Manipur, while Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy and RSP member N.K. Premachandran were among those who questioned the Prime Minister’s absence from the House.
“Through the no-confidence motion we want to break his vow of silence,” Mr. Gogoi said, adding that the Prime Minister should lead an all-party delegation to Manipur and talk to civil society organisations to restore peace.
Mr. Gogoi said the Prime Minister was silent on Manipur because he knew that the double-engine government had failed, the Home Ministry and the National Security Adviser had mishandled the situation and lastly because Mr. Modi did not like to accept mistakes.
He said silence was the strategy of the Prime Minister, be it on Manipur, or the protests by women wrestlers or the reported incursions by Chinese troops.
“The Prime Minister is busy maligning the INDIA alliance. It is unfortunate that you are engaged in maligning the name of the country. When you talk of Popular Front of India, Indian Mujahideen and East India Company, we talk of Indian Institute of Technology, we talk about Indian Space Research Organisation, we talk about Indian police force, we talk about Indian Air Force,” Mr. Gogoi said.
The Congress MP accused the BJP of using hatred as a weapon to win votes, be it in Manipur, Haryana, Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh. “No matter how much hatred you spread, we are determined to open mohabbat ki dukan in your nafrat ka bazaar [open a shop of love in your market of hate],” Mr. Gogoi said.
Congress leader Manish Tewari pointed that while brave Indian soldiers have been resolutely defending the borders from hostile Chinese troops since May 2020, India’s trade with China has gone up. “Is it like we are financing Chinese aggression ourselves?” he said.
NCP leader Supriya Sule, supporting the no-confidence motion, said the BJP had toppled nine elected governments of Opposition parties in the past nine years.
Samajwadi Party member Dimple Yadav said it was a complete violation of human rights in Manipur and a state-sponsored ethnic violence.
(With inputs from Sreeparna Chakraborty)
