Andalib Akhter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured the Lok Sabha that peace will be restored in violence-hit Manipur soon, adding that the entire nation stands with the women of the state. Replying to a debate on the Opposition’s no-trust motion, PM Modi, in a speech that lasted over two hours, said, “Hamare liye northeast jigar ka tukda hai (For us, the northeast is a part of our heart)”.
He said the violence in Manipur is saddening and crimes against women are unacceptable. He assured the people that there will be peace in Manipur in the near future and there will be fast development in the state. Mr Modi alleged that Congress is responsible for most problems in the North-Eastern region.
Mr Modi further stated that Kashmir was burning due to terrorism but Congress did not trust people of Kashmir. He said that instead, Congress chose to trust Hurriyat, separatists and those who used to carry Pakistan’s flag. He added that when India conducted surgical strike on terror, Congress did not trust the Indian Army.
Mr Modi alleged that for opposition, party is above country and they have more interest in hunger for power than hunger of people. He claimed that Opposition was not interested in the discussion on important bills aimed at welfare of people. Prime Minister remarked that it is strange that the name of the Leader of Opposition was missing from the list of those who would speak during the no-trust motion.
Hitting out at Congress, Prime Minister said that the party has neither policy nor intention or vision or understanding of global economic system or India’s economic world’s strength. He further stated that people of the country have no confidence in Congress and they are not able to see the reality due to arrogance. He recalled that India was on the verge of becoming bankrupt in 1991. He said that after 2014, India made it to the top five economies of the world and reform, perform and transform have led the country to this place.
Prime Minister claimed that INDIA alliance is a guarantee of double-digit inflation, corruption, policy paralysis, instability, appeasement, dynasty, unemployment, violence, and terrorism. He guaranteed that during his third term, India will be among the top three economies in the world.
The Prime Minister asserted that NDA and BJP will come back with a grand victory in 2024, and break all previous records. Mr Modi pointed out that no-confidence motion has always been lucky for NDA. He thanked the people of the country for showing trust in his government again and again. He added that this floor test is for the Opposition and not for the government. He stated that when the Opposition will bring a no-confidence motion again in 2028, the country would have become third largest economy in the world.
The opposition staged a walkout during Mr Modi’s reply.
Earlier, intervening in the discussion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, India has now become the fastest growing economy in the world due to the transformative governance and policy reforms initiated by the government since 2014. Highlighting the steps taken by the government in the last nine years, she said, agriculture, defence export, credit to farmers, food production, tap water connections and highways witnessed transformative growth in these years. Talking about the steps taken by the government to improve the condition of Public Sector Banks, the Minister stressed that gross Non Performing Assets (NPA) are at decadal low. She added that the Public Sector Banks now stand at over one lakh crore rupees profit mark. She said, transformation has become possible due to actual delivery and not through spoken words. The Minister also said, India is now witnessing high growth and low inflation wherein the country witnessed high inflation and low growth during the UPA rule. She accused the previous UPA government of only showing dreams and promoting crony capitalism and corruption. The Minister asserted that the present government believes in empowering all and appeasement of none. She expressed confidence that the people defeated UPA in 2014 and 2019 and the situation will be the same in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. When the Minister was responding to DMK member TR Baalu’s queries on AIIMS Madurai, some DMK and Congress members protested alleging that no work has been done related to the project. Later, members from Congress, DMK and others staged a walkout from the House. Speaking against the no confidence motion LJP (R) MP Chirag Paswan said, opposition leaders in their speeches only blamed the government and did not talk about any solution to the Manipur situation. Rahul Shewale of Shiv Sena also spoke against the no confidence motion. Locket Chatterjee of BJP questioned opposition for not speaking on atrocities against women in West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. She said, TMC had sent a fact finding committee to Manipur but it did not talk about violence in West Bengal during Panchayat Polls.
Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM raised the issue of scholarship of minority students. He said, several scholarships have been discontinued due to which around one lakh 80 thousand muslim students are facing difficulties to pursue higher education. Mahua Moitra of TMC said, the no confidence motion is intended to break the alleged silence of the government on the Manipur issue. She said, comparing Manipur situation with other states is not appropriate as over 60 thousand people have been displaced in the state.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of Congress, said none of the opposition parties were thinking about this no-confidence motion and they were only demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come to the Parliament and speak on the Manipur issue. He also spoke against polarization and communalization. Treasury bench members objected to some of his remarks made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Intervening in the debate, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlighted several measures of the government for the welfare of the people. Opposition members staged a walk out from the House when Mr. Scindia was speaking. The discussion is underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the discussion in a short while from now.
Vijay Hansdak of JMM, Independent member Naba Kumar Sarania, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore of BJP, Thomas C of KC (M), Vijay Baghel of BJP, K Prabhakar reddy of BRS, Senthilkumar of DMK, Bandi Sanjay Kumar of BJP, Girdhari Yadav of JD(U), Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF and Rajdeep Roy of BJP spoke in the discussion.
Later, the House rejected the No Confidence Motion.