Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 8: With the ruling party certain to defeat the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha where it enjoys a strong majority, the opposition on the first day of the debate on the motion accused the government of creating a great divide in the strife-torn Manipur state.
The Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, the mover of the motion while opening 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. Gogoi said there were three reasons why Modi was “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,” Gogoi said.
Just before the House session began on Tuesday, Modi addressed a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party where he said the no-confidence motion was more a reflection of mutual distrust among the opposition INDIA bloc parties, a heuristic device to see who was with them and who was not, rather than against his government.
Modi had also congratulated the party MPs in Rajya Sabha for winning the “semi-final” battle in getting the Delhi services bill through on Monday night.
.Explaining his remark, sources said Modi noted that some Opposition members had described the voting in the Rajya Sabha as a “semi-final” before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He exuded confidence over the BJP’s prospects in the General Elections.
The Delhi Services Bill secured parliamentary approval after the Rajya Sabha passed the contentious measure that would give the Centre control over the bureaucracy in the National Capital Territory, with the BJP-led NDA securing an emphatic win in the Upper House, which is a tricky numbers challenge for the Treasury Benches.
In a swipe at Opposition parties, Modi said their leaders spoke of social justice but harmed it most with their “dynastic, appeasement, and corrupt” politics. He reiterated his call that “corrupt, dynastic, and appeasement politics” should “quit India.”
In the House, the Union minister Kiren Rijiju said the Opposition would 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.”
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.
The BJP retaliation became close and personal at one point. While most leaders from the BJP had attributed the No-Confidence Motion to Congress’s compulsions connected to the alliance, party MP Nishikant Dubey gave it an unexpected spin.
“I have a great respect for Sonia-ji,” Dubey said. “She has adopted the life of a Hindu woman and does everything one is expected to do. She now has only two primary concerns — Bete ko set karna hai aur daamad ko bhet karna hai (She wants to establish her son and give gifts to her son-in-law).” This, he said, is the reason why the no-confidence motion has been brought against the government.
Dubey also made a jibe at Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on VD Savarkar and commented on the Supreme Court freeze on his conviction in the defamation case. “The Supreme Court has not given a judgment. It has given a stay order…He is saying that he will not apologise… Secondly, he says “I am not Savarkar” – You can never be Veer Savarkar,” Dubey said.
