New Delhi: Monday's stalemate in Parliament over Manipur continued as opposition parties insisted on hearing a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter. The ruling BJP, meanwhile, accused the opposition of trying to avoid the debate by disrupting proceedings.
BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with Modi in his Parliament office amid the stalemate to discuss organisational problems, according to sources.
On Sunday, Rajnath Singh, Deputy Leader of the Lok Sabha and Minister of Defence, called some opposition members, including Congress chairman Mallikarjun Kharge, to break the impasse.
On Monday, protests and adjournments occurred in both houses of parliament as opposition parties continued to seek an official reply from the prime minister over the violence in Manipur.
The government has stated its willingness to participate in a debate and has promised that Home Minister Shah will make a statement. However, the opposition has insisted that the prime minister issue a statement.
Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has said that the administration is insensitive. We want the Prime Minister to address the House of Commons. We're prepared to talk about that claim. You're disrespecting Parliament by holding your speech outside. It's a major problem," he emphasised.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, an MP for the Shiv Sena, raised concerns about the government's handling of the situation in Manipur and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the matter. She also noted that the violence had not subsided after 80 days.
Is the Prime Minister above the law? He spoke for only 36 seconds outside the legislature but is not informing the public through the legislature as to why the chief minister has not been removed from office. The failure of the home minister to maintain order begs the question: why? She questioned why the Minister for Women and Children's Development had not yet visited Manipur.
Lalan Singh, head of the JD-U, said the events in Manipur embarrass the entire country. They have a 'double-engine' government, and the Manipuri people are completely ignored by them. We want the Prime Minister to address the House of Commons," he continued.
In response to the atrocities in Manipur, TMC MP Saugata Roy announced that his party would hold a demonstration in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue. He stated, "We want a debate in Parliament, which the prime minister should initiate."
While the opposition lawmakers were ducking the topic, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned their "silence" on the problem of violence against women in other states.
Concerning crime against women in Rajasthan and West Bengal, the opposition has been unusually quiet. The fact that the chief minister of Rajasthan allegedly did not pay attention to his own minister was particularly galling, he said.
Prahlad Singh Patel, a minister for the federal government, has declared, "The opposition should not make excuses." A statement on Manipur was made by the PM before the (Monsoon) session, and it was both sensitive and firm. Making an excuse in the name of the Prime Minister for not opening up discussion on the Manipur issue in Parliament is incorrect. The opposition demanded a response from the prime minister and a discussion on the situation in the strife-torn northeastern state of Manipur, which rocked the proceedings in both Houses of Parliament on the first two days of the Monsoon session on Thursday and Friday.
The session began on May 5, one day after a video supposedly recorded on May 4 of two women being nakedly paraded through a Manipur hamlet went viral and sparked outrage across the country.
Several people seen in the video have been apprehended by the Manipur Police. Nongpok Sekmai police in the Thoubal district have reported that an abduction, gang rape, and murder case has been filed against unknown armed suspects.—Inputs from Agencies