No-confidence motion a compulsion as PM is silent on Manipur, says Congress MP Gogoi

New Delhi, August 8 (IANS) The Congress on Tuesday moved the no-confidence motion against the government in Lok Sabha, saying that it was a compulsion to do so, as despite its repeated demand, the Prime Minister Modi failed to come in the House and speak over the Manipur crisis.

“This motion is our compulsion. It was never about numbers. It is about justice for Manipur. This motion is by the INDIA alliance for seeking justice for Manipur,” Gogoi said, while initiating the discussion on the motion.

He said that the motion was also brought against the government to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Maun Vrat’ on the Manipur violence.

Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were also present in the House, when the discussion began on the no-confidence motion.

He said that Manipur demands justice.

“Martin Luther King Junior had said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. If Manipur is burning, the whole of India is burning, if Manipur is divided, the country is divided. It was our demand that as the leader of the country, Prime Minister Modi should come to the House and speak about Manipur,” the Congress MP said.

Gogoi alleged that a government which talks about “one India has created two Manipurs - one living in hills and the other in the valley.”

He said that the opposition has three requests from the prime minister.

First, the Prime Minister should come to both Houses of Parliament. Second, he should visit Manipur with an all party delegation, ‘we all are ready to go with him there’.

Third, he should call a meeting of all social organisations to discuss the situation in the state and think of a solution.

Gogoi also posed three questions to the Prime Minister.

“We have three questions for him - Why did he not visit Manipur till date? Why did it take almost 80 days for him to finally speak on Manipur? And why has the Prime Minister not sacked the Manipur Chief Minister so far?” Gogoi asked.

As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi’s name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.

Gogoi’s response that should the remarks made by the Prime Minister in Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's chamber be revealed in the House evoked a sharp retort from Home Minister Amit Shah who said the member cannot make unsubstantiated claims about the Prime Minister.

Gogoi said he would like to ask the Prime Minister why had he not gone to Manipur, when Rahul Gandhi had gone as had Home Minister Amit Shah and the Minister of State for Home (Nityanand Rai).

The Prime Minister remains silent as he is only concerned about maintaining his image, Gogoi said, adding that he remained silent when wrestlers were agitating, he was silent when Delhi riots erupted, he remained silent on China and he remained silent when farmers were agitating for more than a year.

Gogoi said that the central government has broken the poor as inflation had broken all records, while only a select corporates have prospered in the NDA regime.

Soon after Gogoi ended his speech, there was furor in Lok Sabha when BSP MP Danish Ali brought to the notice of the House that the television screens inside the House were not running anything about the no-confidence motion, but displaying information on the various initiatives of the government.

Several opposition MPs raised slogans of ‘Shame! Shame!’ as the proceedings were stalled for some time.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar and other ministers were seen discussing the matter even as a bemused Speaker was seen asking his staff to get the scrolls removed from the television screens.

Birla said he had no control over what the official Sansad television was showing.

Joshi tried to play down the situation, saying that it was nothing extraordinary as the speeches were being telecast live.

However, as the television screens stopped the scrolls showing government’s achievements, the House resumed business.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey while speaking against the motion, raised questions on the parties which form the INDIA alliance.

He raked the past histories of the alliance parties’ and their conflicting political ideologies and criticised their political opportunism.