Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi has on Friday - August 11 scathingly attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a presser alleging that the Prime Minister was laughing in the Parliament and instead of speaking about the Manipur violence, he spent time speaking about the Congress party.
Rahul Gandhi's jibe at Prime Minister Modi has come a day after Modi addressed the Lok Sabha during which he responded to the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress party and also broke his silence about the Manipur violence after three months. His speech was packed with a high dosage of whataboutery when the nation was expecting that he would holistically speak about the Manipur violence.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi came to the Lok Sabha and responded to the no-confidence motion. His speech lasted for two hours but he spent less than ten minutes on Manipur and the rest of his speech was blended with whataboutery and the attack on the Congress party. As he didn't speak about the Manipur issue, the opposition members had staged a walkout and the moment they left the house, Modi touched upon Manipur and blamed that the opposition parties are not cooperating.
It was Modi's first speech about the Manipur violence after three months and he spoke in a fashion that he was pushed to speak about it. Modi said, "Many families lost their loved ones. Terrible crimes were committed against women and this is condemnable. To punish the perpetrators both central and state governments are trying their best. I want to assure all citizens that all our efforts are underway and peace will be restored soon. Manipur will move forward with new self-confidence towards development soon."
"I also want to tell the people of Manipur, to the women, daughters and sisters that the country is with you and this House is with you. Together we will confront this challenge and bring back peace. I want to tell Manipur that we are trying our best to ensure Manipur moves towards peace soon", Modi added. By citing that the country was shocked by the lies spread by the opposition about the situation in Manipur, Modi stated, "We had said come and discuss Manipur, the home minister even wrote a letter. But they (opposition) had no intention or courage."
Finally, after his speech, the house brought the no-confidence motion for voting and the motion was defeated by a voice vote in the absence of the opposition MPs. The nation was watching Modi's address with a fact that he neither spoke about Manipur for three months nor he visited the state so far. On Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has held a presser conference to respond to Modi's speech during which he launched a fresh attack against the Prime Minister.
While addressing the presser, Rahul Gandhi had urged Modi to at least speak with the predominant Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur, whose clash has triggered violence. The Congress leader said that Prime Minister Modi has multiple instruments in his hand to control the situation in Manipur but he is not doing it. Instead, he is laughing in Parliament. "He was cracking jokes, laughing with NDA MPs. It doesn't behove a Prime Minister", Rahul Gandhi alleged.
The Congress leader said, "I have been in politics for the last 19 years. I have been to all states. But I haven't seen what we witnessed in Manipur. Perhaps, I should say it now. When I went to the Meitei area, we were told not to bring any Kuki as part of our security. We were told that Kukis would be killed if there is any Kuki in the Meitei area and similar was the situation in the Kuki area. So, Manipur has been divided into Kuki and Meitei. Manipur doesn't exist as a state. This is what I said in Parliament."
"When a person becomes PM, he should not speak like a petty politician. It's tragic to watch PM Modi speak for two hours on the Congress and opposition. It doesn't do justice to his position. The only conclusion I want to draw is that the PM has tools in hand but for some reasons, he refuses to use them. There are clear reasons why PM is not going to Manipur. I am not seeking Army's intervention. All I am saying is that Army can stop this nonsense in two days. It is not my position to say which tool PM Modi will use", Rahul Gandhi added.
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