Sparks fly during no-trust debate, Opposition questions Modi's silence on Manipur

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, August 8

Sparks flew on the first day of the debate on the no-trust motion on Tuesday with the Opposition asserting that it was forced to do so to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “maun vrat” (vow of silence) on issues of national importance, including Manipur, and the treasury benches hitting back saying it was a no-trust vote against a “poor person’s son”, who had worked for the welfare of the people.

About Justice for Manipur, not numbers

The motion is not about numbers in Lok Sabha but to seek justice for Manipur… Through motion, we want to break PM’s vow of silence. Gaurav Gogoi, Cong MP

Targeting Poor man’s son

This ‘no confidence’ is against the son of a poor man, who gave drinking water, toilets and supplied power. Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP

Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress accused Modi of “silence” on multiple issues and alleged that the BJP was using “hatred” as a weapon to win elections.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey used Modi’s humble origins to counter the Congress’ allegations: “This ‘no confidence’ is against the son of a poor man, the man who provided drinking water, toilets and supplied power. The no-confidence motion is against the poor people of India and the good work done by Modi.”

Dubey, an MP from Jharkhand, used the disrobing of Draupadi in the Mahabharata to draw a similarity saying “it’s like disrobing of Draupadi; you will lose the elections”.

Gogoi, an MP from Assam, said, “The no-confidence motion is not about the numbers in the Lok Sabha but to seek justice for Manipur”. He had three things to say to Modi – “Come to the House to make a statement; go to Manipur with an all-party delegation and call all organisations of Manipur for a discussion”.

“Why has the PM not gone to Manipur so far, and why did it take 80 days for him to speak up. Probably, he would not have spoken on the issue had the video not gone viral,” said the Assam MP.

Gogoi accused Modi of being silent on Chinese intrusions. “What did Modi agree to at a meeting with Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting at Bali,” asked Gogoi, adding that Modi remained silent on the matter and it only came to light when the Chinese Foreign Ministry revealed the details.

“Modi was silent when women wrestlers were protesting, farmers were protesting and he was silent when questioned on Adani,” said the Congress MP.

“Why has Manipur CM N Biren Singh not been changed,” asked Gogoi, adding that “Today, hatred is becoming a weapon to win elections. In your “nafarat ka bazaar’, we will open “mohabbat ki dukan”.

Dubey countered Gogoi and questioned the INDIA alliance.

Dubey also spoke about alliances of the Congress. “The DMK faced problems in the 1970s with the Congress. The TMC, the RJD and the SP faced cases under the Congress regime. Irrigation scam cases registered against NCP leaders in Maharashtra were at the behest of the Congress. NC leader Sheikh Abdullah was jailed by Nehru,” he said.

Attacking Sonia Gandhi, Dubey said: “Bete ko set karna hai, damaad ko bhent karna hai (has to establish her son and give gifts to her son-in-law)”.

Oppn gives privilege notice against Goyal

• A group of Opposition parties — the Congress, TMC, AAP, RJD, DMK, RJD, NCP, JD(U) and the Left — gave a privilege notice in the Rajya Sabha against Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday
• The notice was issued over Goyal’s remarks against the Opposition in the context of US media expose on Chinese funding of an Indian news site

TMC’s Derek survives suspension motion

• TMC’s Derek O’Brien survived a suspension motion on Tuesday
• RS Chairman Dhankhar initially announced his suspension for unruly behaviour in House
• Later, he let TMC MP attend proceedings, saying he had taken ‘far-sighted’ decision to not allow voting on motion to suspend him which didn’t fructify

‘Why Rahul dropped out at last minute’

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi asked why Rahul Gandhi dropped out as the lead speaker of the debate after indicating so at the meeting in the Speaker’s chamber. Responding to him, Gaurav Gogoi asked the BJP whether he should also reveal what PM Modi said in the Speaker’s chamber. At this, Home Minister Amit Shah dared Gogoi to say what he wanted to say.