Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 10: The opposition sponsored no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government was on Thursday defeated in the Lok Sabha by a voice vote in the absence of the opposition who had walked out as the prime minister belied their hopes on speaking on the Manipur situation and kept attacking on the opposition block politically.
As expected, Modi’s response to the No-Confidence Motion turned out to be an occasion for scourging the Opposition — crashing their hopes of cornering him and compelling him to speak on violence-hit Manipur. After more than an hour, when the Opposition bloc INDIA walked out, Modi said his Home Minister Amit Shah has already explained all about Manipur, but the Opposition only wanted to “play politics.”
His only response on Manipur was, “I want to tell the mothers and sisters of Manipur that the country and the parliament are with you. I want to assure the people of Manipur that we will work to develop Manipur,” he said. But he blamed the Opposition for the events in Manipur, saying it was the result of Congress politics.
Even knowing that the numbers are heavily stacked against them, the opposition had moved the no-confidence motion specifically on Manipur strife thinking that it would force the prime minister to speak on the north-eastern state on the floor of the House.
Both Houses of Parliament witnessed disruptions as proceedings resumed on Thursday morning, leading to brief adjournments. While the Lok Sabha was adjourned due to loud protests by the Opposition till 12 noon, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the Rajya Sabha till 2 p.m. and later for the day following a heated exchange between the Opposition and the ruling party over the rule under which discussion of violence in Manipur should be taken up.
The Lok Sabha resumed its debate on the no-trust motion at 12 p.m. Several speakers from both sides squared off, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who started the debate, and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Chowdhury was later suspended from the House for all the alleged “misconduct.”
Modi starting with Ram Manohar Lohia’s censure for Jawaharlal Nehru over his northeast policy, traced it to the separatist movements in several north-eastern states. Such No-Confidence Motions are “lucky” for him, Modi said, for these turn out to be a test of the Opposition. The people judge them and return the BJP to power with a bigger mandate. “Whichever institution they speak against, their luck turns around… You have decided that NDA and BJP will return with a record mandate,” he said.
Recalling the last No-Confidence Motion moved by Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party in 2018, Modi said: “Even then I had said, the motion is not a floor test of our government but theirs… When voting happened, they fell short… When we went to the public, the people announced their no-confidence in them. The NDA and BJP got more votes. In a way, the Opposition No-Confidence Motion is a good omen for us.” He also told the opposition to come better prepared when they bring another no-confidence against his government in 2028.
In a speech peppered with jabs at the Opposition, Modi said they had “betrayed” the people by not allowing any discussion to take place on important bills in the monsoon session. They have shown that for them, “dal” (party) is bigger than “desh” (the country). The Opposition, he said, is bowling a series of “no-balls” from which the government is scoring sixes.
“Their favourite slogan is Modi Teri Kabr Khudegi (your grave will be dug). But for me, their abuse and unparliamentary words are like tonic. I believe the Opposition has received a secret boon — anyone they speak against end up flourishing. I am an example,” he said.
History shows that Congress and its friends have no faith in India and its capabilities, Modi said. “Pakistan attacked our borders and sent terrorists regularly. Kashmir was burning in the fires of terrorism. But the Congress trusted Hurriyat, separatists, and those who roamed with a Pakistani flag. We did surgical strikes. But they didn’t believe us. They believed Pakistan,” he added amid angry slogan-shouting by the Opposition MPs.
Halfway into the speech, the Opposition started the “Manipur, Manipur” chant. But the Prime Minister pushed on, accusing the INDIA bloc of dividing the very name of the country. In Bengaluru – after the Congress victory in the Karnataka Elections — they performed the “last rites” of the UPA, he said. “I had extended my condolences then… Then, to keep themselves alive, they took the support of the NDA. But as habit, they added the ‘I’ of ghamand (arrogance). They stole NDA. They broke up India with dots – I.N.D.I.A,” he added.
The Speaker Om Birla had called out Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and BJP MP Virendra Singh for unruly behaviour in the House. While the BJP MP defended himself, Parliamentary Affairs Minister attacked Chowdhury and introduces a motion to suspend the LoP. The motion was passed.
Taking a jibe at the opposition, Modi said the opposition kept his word of bringing a no-confidence motion against him in 2023. “But I am disheartened that notwithstanding the five years they had, there was no innovation or creativity in their motion – it seemed they were not prepared,” adding, “we will give them another opportunity in 2028. But I would urge them to please bring some concrete issues and do some homework. At least the country would be assured that they are worthy of opposition.”
“We never thought in our lives that we would be able to reach this place (the parliament). But this is the country’s faith in us that has led us here. Thus, I assure the people of the country that I would dedicate every inch of my body for the country and its people,” he told the house.
The situation in Manipur has been presented to have originated in the past few days, Prime Minister Modi observed. “If there is any source of all turbulence in the Northeast, it is not the people of Northeast, but Congress’ politics,” he added. He alleged that Manipur’s rich heritage was compromised because of extremism that was inefficiently handled by the Congress. Modi said realising the importance of the Northeast in the evolving global world, his government had been investing in civic infrastructure in the Northeast.
In a forthright attack on the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Modi said the Congress tries to re-launch a failed product each time. In a reference to Gandhi’s repeated references to “Mahobbat ki Dukaan,” Modi said they should be ashamed of having compromised on the army’s integrity, emergency and 1984 Sikh riots.