Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have a discussion on Manipur in the House, the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said on Thursday.
Ms. Gandhi put across her demand during a brief conversation she had with Mr. Modi just before the House proceedings started. Sources claimed that the Prime Minister had spoken to Ms. Gandhi to inquire about her well-being after Tuesday’s incident when a plane she was on developed a technical snag and made an emergency landing.
Mr. Chowdhury, however, told The Hindu that it is customary for the Prime Minister to exchange pleasantries with Opposition leaders on the first day of the session.
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“When the session begins, it is a tradition for the Prime Minister to greet Opposition leaders and that is how he spoke to Madam. At the first opportunity, she told him that we want a discussion on Manipur in the House,” he said.
“I think the Prime Minister didn’t expect such a question from Madam and was perhaps taken aback. He said, ‘We will see’. But Madam put across her demand quite forcefully,” Mr. Chowdhury added.
The Congress has stepped up its attack on the Narendra Modi government after a video of two women in Manipur being paraded naked emerged on social media.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “Modi government and the BJP have changed democracy and the rule of law into Mobocracy by destroying the delicate social fabric of the State.”
“The PM has all the means at his disposal, including helicopter, but has not gone to Manipur... while Rahul Gandhi, who has no such means, went there to listen to people. You have all the facilities of the government but why are you not going there (Manipur)?” the Congress chief asked.
Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh also targeted Mr. Modi for speaking for only 30 seconds on Manipur, diverting attention by equating the Manipur incident with crimes against women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and side-stepping the ethnic conflict. “He [Mr. Modi] has made no appeal for peace, nor asked for the Chief Minister of Manipur to step down,” Mr. Ramesh tweeted.
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wondered what made the Prime Minister speak on Manipur. “Was it the horrific video of the unspeakable crime against the women of Manipur? Was it the Supreme Court taking cognisance of the massive violation of human rights in Manipur? The first thing that the Hon’ble PM should do is to dismiss the discredited government of Biren Singh and impose President’s Rule,” he tweeted.
Mahila Congress chief Netta D’Souza, who led a protest barely a few hundred metres away from Parliament, said, “I appeal to President Droupadi Murmu, you are a woman and a tribal, your silence on this matter is not appropriate. Please impose President’s rule. By imposing President’s rule, the situation in Manipur can be improved.”
Responding to Mr. Modi’s comment that the visuals from Manipur had shamed the country, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Prime Minister, the issue is not that it’s a shame for the country. The issue is the immense pain and trauma inflicted on the women of Manipur. Stop the violence immediately.”
