NEW DELHI: The second day of the no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s full-fledged attack on the Modi government over the unrest in Manipur. In his highly anticipated speech after his reinstatement as a Lok Sabha member, Rahul lashed out at BJP alleging that its politics “had murdered India in Manipur”. “They have divided Manipur into two. They are not patriots, they are traitors. They have killed the country in Manipur,” he charged.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur ever since the violence broke out, Rahul alleged that he does not consider the state to be part of India. “I went to Manipur a few days ago. Our prime minister has not gone there till now. For him, Manipur is not India. I used the word Manipur, but the reality is there is no Manipur left. You have divided Manipur into two,” Rahul charged, amid constant interruptions and sloganeering from the Treasury benches.
Targeting the government, he said that the Army can restore peace in Manipur in a day, but they (Centre) are not willing to do so. “They are not using the Army because they want to murder ‘Mother India’ in Manipur. You have murdered the voice of India, which means you have murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur. My mother is sitting here. The other mother, Bharat Mata, you killed in Manipur,” he said, pointing to Sonia Gandhi who was present in the House.
In his 30-minute emotive speech, Rahul said during his visit to the relief camps in Manipur, he heard tragic stories from the women victims of the violence. “From Manipur to Haryana, you have lit fire everywhere,” he said.
Joining the issue with Rahul, Union Minister Smriti Irani reminded him of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, Sikh riots and incidents of crimes against women during Congress rule. “For the first time in the history of the country, there was talk of the murder of Mother India,” she said. Speaking for the motion, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah sought to know the number of Kashmiri Pandits resettled in J&K by the government.
LESS THAN 40% OF SCREEN TIME
Rahul spoke for 37 mins but was shown on Sansad TV for only 14 mins and 37 secs, the Congress said. Besides, the TV camera was on the Speaker for 71% of the time when Rahul spoke, the party leader Jairam Ramesh said