NEW DELHI, 24 Jul: Leaders of several opposition parties on Monday staged a protest in the Parliament complex, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in the house on the Manipur issue.
Holding placards and banners that read “INDIA for Manipur,” and “INDIA demands PM’s statement on Manipur,” the opposition parties raised slogans against the government near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament complex.
Speaking to reporters, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that it is the prime minister’s duty to make a comprehensive statement in Parliament on the Manipur violence.
He said that the PM has spoken outside and at the door of the Parliament.
“Make a statement on what is the real situation in Manipur. But the PM is not coming inside the house. He sits in his office, but is not coming inside Parliament,” he said.
Kharge said also that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had called him up and several other leaders, including TR Baalu.
“We told him that if the prime minister speaks inside Parliament, we will hold a debate on that. We want the discussion to be under Rule 267, which can carry on for hours and even on the next day. We will decide on whatever comes out of the discussion and whether voting can also take place. But the government
wants a half-an-hour discussion or a short duration discussion,” he said.
“When the house is in session, no prime minister or chief minister makes a statement outside. This is the precedent. But this is the first time he is doing this. As per precedent, he should come inside. We are again demanding that prime minister comes and makes a statement,” the leader of opposition said.
“It is shameful that the prime minister is making a statement outside the house, when Parliament is in session. It is his duty to make a comprehensive statement inside Parliament on Manipur violence,” the Congress leader later said on Twitter.
“INDIA stands with Manipur. If PM Modi has any ounce of constitutional propriety left, then he will make an elaborate statement on the violence in Manipur since 3 May. No amount of whataboutery and false equivalence shall work in the case of Manipur violence,” Kharge said in another tweet.
“We are requesting the chairman of Rajya Sabha and the speaker of Lok Sabha that the PM should make a statement on the situation in Manipur. We want a discussion under Rule 167 but the Modi government wants a short duration discussion under Rule 176 for half-an-hour. We want under Rule 267, under which there can also be voting,” he said.
Kharge said that “the prime minister should first make a statement and then we will have a discussion under Rule 267.
“The Modi government and the BJP cannot run away from its constitutional duty and answerability on Manipur,” Kharge added.
The government has agreed to hold a short-duration discussion on the Manipur issue with the home minister replying to it, but the opposition is adamant on its demand for the prime minister’s statement first.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have failed to transact any business during the monsoon session amid the stalemate between the opposition and the government over the Manipur issue. (PTI)
