The Congress on Tuesday sought to know why the Prime Minister of the country had not visited violence-hit Manipur in the last three months.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi questioned the Prime Minister's silence over all the important issues that had happened in the country.
Gogoi said, "When award-winning women wrestlers were protesting on the streets, the Prime Minister remained silent. When 750 farmers lost their lives during the agitation, the PM was silent. In 2020, when Delhi witnessed riots and a foreign leader was visiting India, the Prime Minister remained silent."
"When we questioned the government on incursions by China, the Prime Minister remained silent. When a former lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir said he had sought protection for the soldiers in Pulwama but was turned down, the PM remained silent," the MP said, adding that the opposition is bringing the no-confidence motion to make the PM speak up at least on Manipur violence.
Opening the debate on the no-confidence motion against the central government in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi directed three questions at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Manipur violence.
MP Gaurav Gogoi asked, " Why did the Prime Minister did not visit Manipur in the last three months? INDIA alliance went to Manipur, Rahul Gandhi went, and Even Union Minister Amit Shah visited the violence-hit state. Being the chief of the country, why did you not visit the state".
The second question from the MP was why the PM took 80 days to speak on Manipur violence.
"After that, there has been no peace appeal on Manipur violence from the PM. His Ministers are saying they will speak on the issue, but as the Prime Minister, the power of his words cannot be matched by ministers. If PM Modi takes a step to ensure peace, it will carry more weight than that of a minister or an MP," Gogoi said.
The third question was on Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh. The MP asked why PM Modi had not sacked the Chief Minister so far.
"When polls were approaching and you needed to do your politics in Gujarat, you changed the chief minister there, not once, but twice. Ahead of the elections in Uttarakhand, you changed the state chief minister probably four times. A change was made in Tripura too. Why have you reserved special blessings for the Manipur chief minister, who has himself accepted that there was an intelligence failure because of him," the MP questioned.
The Congress MP said the opposition had moved the no-confidence motion not for numbers, but to get justice for Manipur.
"If Manipur is burning, entire India is burning, if Manipur is divided, the country is divided. It was our demand that as the leader of the country, Prime Minister Modi should come to the House and speak about Manipur. However, he kept a 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) that he will neither speak in the Lok Sabha nor in the Rajya Sabha. Through the no-confidence motion, we want to break his vow of silence," a reported PTI.
"When people were gasping for breath during the second wave of Covid, the Prime Minister was seeking votes in West Bengal. When women were being assaulted in Manipur, the PM was seeking votes in Karnataka. What kind of nationalism is this that places power above the nation," Mr Gogoi asked
The MP said it was a matter of grave concern that a government that talked about 'one India' had created 'two Manipurs - one living in the hills and the other in the valley'