Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 26: Further consolidating the new-found bonhomie between the two parties which till recently were not the best of friends, the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday commended the Aam Aadmi Party-led protest campaign on Manipur outside Parliament.
Several opposition members have joined the protest by the AAP’s Sanjay Singh – suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the session during Opposition protests on Manipur – who has been spearheading the sit-in protest outside parliament demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi give a statement on the issue in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Last night they held a candle-light protest near the Gandhi statue.
Conducting this amid a heavy downpour on Wednesday, Sanjay Singh tweeted: “Second day of the protest. Heavy rain! Perhaps God is also crying over the condition of Manipur. The question is only on one Manipur, when will Modi ji speak in the Parliament?” he tweeted.
Mrs Sonia Gandhi who visited the protesting members told Singh “My support is with you.” Mr Singh tweeted a video of the interaction. “Former Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi met and said on the movement being run by Team INDIA against Manipur violence, “My support is with you.”
Singh was joined by MPs from AAP and other opposition parties, many of whom were seen holding “INDIA for Manipur” placards. Singh’s restoration to the upper house is also one of the demands of the protesters.
The government is not ready to meet the opposition demand of the Prime Minister addressing the House on the situation in Manipur.
The BJP sources said this was not the first time the north-eastern state was witnessing terrible violence, but no Prime Minister had visited the state when violence took place in 1993 and 1997. It was not discussed in parliament and only on one instance, the Minister of State for Home had given a statement.
The Congress and the AAP had not been seeing eye to eye as the grand old party felt that the Arvind Kejriwal’s party was thriving in Delhi and made inroads in Punjab at the cost of the Congress. The AAP was refusing to attend the second opposition conclave for a united front but mended its stand after the Congress Parliamentary Party announced its decision to oppose the centre’s ordinance on the Delhi services. Since then the two parties had been co-operating and co-existing with other opposition parties despite some reservations among the local Congress units in Delhi and Punjab.
Meanwhile, in response to the union home minister Amit Shah writing to opposition parties to end the logjam in Parliament over Manipur issue, the Congress president and the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday wrote a letter to Shah reiterating the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on Manipur in the ongoing session of the Parliament. His letter came a day after Shah sought “invaluable cooperation” from the Opposition and asked them to rise above party lines. Kharge hit out at Shah saying that his words did not match the actions of the ruling party in Parliament.
“The letter we received from you is not factual… There is a marked difference between the words in your letter and your actions. The government seems intolerant and is forcing its will in the Parliament,” Kharge said in the letter. He said that they want Prime Minister to make a statement on Manipur, which should then be followed by a discussion in Parliament.
Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament have been affected ever since the Monsoon session began on July 20 with the opposition parties demanding a discussion on the ongoing violence in Manipur. The opposition has tried to corner the government on the Manipur violence after a video of a May 4 incident appeared on social media recently showing two women stripped and paraded naked by a mob.
The central government has stated its readiness for a discussion on the Manipur situation but had maintained that the debate would be replied by Shah and not the prime minister. It had also insisted that the discussion should be held under a softer rule 176 which did not require voting or passing any resolution while the opposition was insisting on debate under rule 267 which required voting. The government has also made it clear that the discussion would not be confined to Manipur only but would also include alleged crimes against women in the non-BJP ruled states.
Inside the House, Kharge on Wednesday complained that his “self-respect had been challenged” during the Rajya Sabha proceedings after his mic was turned off while he was speaking. The move came amid an uproar in the house, with opposition members raising slogans demanding a statement from Modi on Manipur. In response, members of the ruling BJP-led alliance began chanting ‘Modi, Modi’, plunging the house into chaos. The proceedings were adjourned until noon.
“It was a breach of my privilege. This is my insult. My self-respect has been challenged. If the House is run on the instructions of the government, then I will understand that it is not a democracy,” the Congress president said.
Kharge expressed his indignation after being interrupted mid-speech, leading to an immediate uproar from opposition members. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked them to take their seats.
When he informed Kharge that several MPs were standing in the rows behind him, the Congress leader said, “Mere peechhe khade agar nahi honge toh kya Modi ke peechhe khade honge? (If they will not stand behind me, will they stand behind Modi?)” Mr Dhankhar and several members were seen smiling at Kharge’s remarks.
Dhankhar appealed to Kharge and the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal to help restore order. Despite these efforts, the rancorous exchanges continued and the House was again adjourned for the day.
