THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 4 Jul: The Congress on Thursday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “breaking his silence on the Manipur violence” in the Rajya Sabha is a real victory for the opposition parties.
A day after Modi spoke on the Manipur violence in the Rajya Sabha, the opposition party said that the entire country had been waiting for Modi’s reaction on the matter for the last one and a half years.
“…he didn’t speak anything about Manipur for the last one and a half years. Finally, yesterday (Wednesday) he broke his silence on Manipur. It is a real victory for the opposition,” AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal told reporters here, reacting to a query.
In his speech in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday on the motion of thanks on the president’s address to a joint sitting of Parliament, the prime minister had said that violence in Manipur is continuously declining and educational institutions along with businesses have opened in most parts of the state.
He had asserted that all efforts are being made to ensure a return of complete peace in the state.
Recalling his elaborate speech concerning Manipur in the previous session of the Rajya Sabha, Modi had reiterated that the “government is continuously making efforts to bring normalcy in Manipur.”
Venugopal said that the opposition created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday because of the government’s unwillingness to give an MP from Manipur five minutes to speak before the PM’s reply on the motion of thanks on the president’s address.
The Alappuzha MP said that the opposition requested the government to hear the voice of Manipur before the PM’s speech. “They were not ready, and that’s why the ruckus started,” he said, justifying the sloganeering by opposition members during the PM’s speech in the Lok Sabha. (PTI)