Government wins No-trust motion; Opposition walks out midway through PM’s reply

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the opposition parties and targeted the Congress and its leadership for nepotism, corruption and scandals, which led to the Opposition members staging a walkout midway through his reply to the No-confidence motion against his government in Lok Sabha today.

It may be mentioned that the purpose of the Opposition to move the No-confidence motion against the government was to, as the leader of the Congress Party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, told media persons yesterday was to make sure that the Prime Minister speaks on Manipur in Parliament. 

In his speech, the Prime Minister referred to the address by Home Minister Amit Shah on the Manipur issue and assured justice to Manipur women and vowed to bring the violence-hit state back to the path of development. He slammed the Opposition for “playing politics” on Manipur violence even when Home Minister Shah had made a detailed explanation of the situation there in his speech yesterday. Modi  said that the Home Minister explained the issues “in great detail with patience and without any politics. The explanation by the Home Minister was an effort to convey the concern of the country and the nation, it was an attempt to convey the House’s confidence to Manipur. It was an honest effort to discuss and find ways”. 

“Crimes against women are unacceptable and the Central Government and the State Government will work to ensure that the guilty are punished. I assure the people of India on the basis of our effort we are making that there will be peace in Manipur in the coming times”, the Prime Minister said. “I want to assure the mothers and sisters of Manipur that the country and the Parliament are with you,” he added.

The government won the No-confidence motion by voice vote followed by the House adopting by voice vote, a resolution moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi to suspend the Congress leader of the Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary for using intemperate language against the Prime Minister.

Modi said it would have been better if the opposition had participated with due seriousness since the beginning of the session. He mentioned that important legislations were passed in the past few days and they should have been discussed by the opposition who gave preference to politics over these key legislations. “There were many bills that were linked with the fishermen, data, poor, deprived and tribals but the opposition has no interest in them. This was a betrayal of the expectations of the people. They have proven that for them, the party is above the country,” he said in his speech. 

The Prime Minister emphasized, “Parliament is not a platform for a Party. Parliament is the revered highest body for the country. Therefore, it is imperative that Parliamentarians have certain seriousness for this. So much of the resources are being devoted here. Every second here should be utilized for the country.” He added that with a lack of seriousness, one can do politics but the country can not be run. 

Modi in his speech called the new opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A, “Ghamandia” (loosely translated as proud stomached or arrogant) and held the Congress Party as the root cause of the problems in the northeast, which includes Manipur. He mentioned three incidents regarding the Northeast. First, on 5th March 1966, when the Airforce was used to attack people in Mizoram. Second, a radio transmission by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 when the people of Northeast were left to fend for themselves during the Chinese invasion. He also cited Ram Manohar Lohia’s allegation against Nehru about the neglect of the region. 

The Prime Minister said his government was working to ensure that the perpetrators of heinous crimes against women in Manipur were punished. 

Taking a dig at the Opposition, he said that the no-confidence motion is lucky for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and “the nation holds the belief that when you introduce a no-confidence motion in 2028, by that time the country will have secured a position among the top three”.  He recalled that it was not a floor test for the government but for those who introduced it in the House in 2018 when the Opposition brought a no-confidence motion. “When we went to polls in 2019, the people had declared no confidence in them with utmost strength,” he said as he underlined that both the NDA and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won more seats. He said this time too the NDA and the BJP will break all records and come out victorious in 2024 with the “blessings of the people”. 

He said he came here today to respond to the allegations, despite the unparliamentary language the Opposition used against him. “I am happy that we were able to speak about the work we have done so far and I thank the Opposition for bringing the no-confidence motion,” he said.

Meanwhile, referring to the Opposition’s walkout before the voting on the No-confidence motion, a right-wing thinker, Dr Suvrokamal Dutta, told Global Bihari that this was because it was not sure of the integrity of its alliance (I.N.D.I.A.). “By doing this Opposition has once again made a mockery of itself and exposed as to how tukde tukde (loosely translated as fragile) the Opposition unity is,” he said.

Earlier in his speech Modi referred to the new Opposition alliance as a grouping of contradictions.

– global bihari bureau