The Lok Sabha, starting Tuesday, is witnessing a fierce debate on the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led government. Congress' Gaurav Gogoi opened the debate from the Opposition side when the Lok Sabha took up the discussion.
It may be noted that the no-confidence motion was moved by the Opposition parties of INDIA bloc which was accepted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The discussion on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha will take place on August 8 and 9 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give a reply on August 10.
The motion of no-confidence by Gaurav Gogoi, the Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, has been listed as agenda item three in the List of Business. It will take place under the shadow of the ethnic violence in Manipur, which has led to repeated disruptions in both Houses of Parliament.
Gandhi, who is likely to open the debate, returned to the Lok Sabha on Monday over four months after he was disqualified. His membership of the Lower House was restored in the wake of the Supreme Court staying his conviction in a defamation case on his 'Modi surname' remark.
Reportedly, a time of 12 hours has been fixed for the discussion -- where ruling BJP will get around seven hours to partake in the discussion and around one hour 15 minutes has been allotted for the Congress party.
Ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state nearly three months ago, killing over 160 people since then, and injuring hundreds. The violence erupted on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
The Monsoon session of Parliament has witnessed repeated disruptions over the issue of ethnic violence in Manipur and the Opposition insisting on a statement from the Prime Minister in the House.
MP Arvind Sawant, speaking on behalf of the Shiv Sena (UBT), said the no-confidence motion is not just about bringing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak in Parliament but that the central government was silent for 70 days despite the atrocities being carried out in Manipur. "If they were not silent, this motion would have not moved," he added.
Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav raised the issue of law and order situation in Manipur during no-trust motion debate in Parliament.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde recited ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ during no-trust motion debate in Lok Sabha.
The NCP, during the no confidence motion debate, demanded the resignation of Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh. "I demand that the (Manipur) CM must resign immediately...10,000 cases of rioting, murder and rape. Have we become so insensitive? This is the problem with this Govt...," said Supriya Sule.
While speaking for the Opposition bloc INDIA, NCP MP from Baramati, Supriya Sule questioned PM Modi government's achievements during the no-trust motion debate. She went on to say, "This government is anti-farmer, which is why we have no confidence in this government."
"This Government is government of the heartless. They are sending delegation to West Bengal on any plea. But not one delegation has gone to Manipur where our brothers and sisters are dying...You have no compassion and that is why you have not gone to Manipur like other parties," said TMC MP Saugata Roy.
"Minorities of Manipur have been killed ruthlessly. 143 people have been killed. 65,000 people have fled the state. Two women were stripped, gang-raped and paraded naked on the streets of Manipur...The CM is helpless. The PM is not coming to the Parliament and he has not gone to the state. Whereas, I.N.D.I.A. parties went there and understood what has happened," says DMK MP TR Baalu.
"My PM says that this is not a no-confidence motion, this is a motion of confidence within the opposition to see who is supporting whom," says Nishikant Dubey.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raised the issue of the Supreme Court staying Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the ‘Modi’ surname remark case following which his membership was restored. "The Supreme Court has not given a judgement. 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 Savakar...," he said.
Rahul Gandhi was supposed to open the no confidence motion debate in the Parliament today. However, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi initiated the discussion.
Responding to the change in Congress speakers’ list, Dubey said, “Maybe Rahul Gandhi wasn’t ready today or maybe he woke late. Gaurav Gogoi spoke well. I am a victim of turbulent times of Manipur. My uncle suffered there and was injured.”
"Those who are bringing no-trust motion have no trust on each other," says Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
We expected that Rahul Gandhi and other Congress MPs will speak. “I’ve heard you out patiently, you should hear me too. After this Rahul Gandhi won’t be able to speak. A lot was said about Manipur. I stand to oppose this motion.”
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey initiated the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha after Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi
"Why didn't PM change chief minister of Manipur when CMs of Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Tripura were changed. Never seen divisions between two communities as in Manipur, your politics has created two states,” Gaurav Gogoi said in the Parliament on Tuesday.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "PM took a 'maun vrat' to not speak in the Parliament. So, we had to bring the No Confidence Motion to break his silence. We have three questions for him - 1) Why did he not visit Manipur to date? 2) Why did it take almost 80 days to finally speak on Manipur and when he did speak it was just for 30 seconds? 3) Why has the CM not sacked the Manipur CM so far?"
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi initiated the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha in place of Rahul Gandhi. Starting the debate, he asked why did it take PM Modi 80 days to speak on the Manipur issue. And when he did, why did he speak only for 30 seconds, asked Gogoi.
Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Smriti Irani, Locket Chatterjee, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Ram Kripal Yadav, Rajdeep Roy, Vijay Baghel, Ramesh Bidhuri, Sunita Duggal, Heena Gavit, Nishikant Dubey, Rajyavardhan Rathore