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‘Modi, Modi vs INDIA, INDIA’: Slogan wars in Rajya Sabha as Oppn seeks PM statement on Manipur
Members of INDIA, the 26-party opposition bloc, are all wearing black on Thursday to protest the PM's 'silence' on the Manipur issue.
Rajya Sabha witnessed a ‘slogan war’ on Thursday, as opposition MPs shouted slogans against prime minister Narendra Modi seeking his statement on the Manipur issue, while members from the ruling party responded with chants in favour of the PM.
The commotion took place even as external affairs minister S Jaishankar was addressing the House on issues related to foreign affairs. While opposition chanted ‘INDIA, INDIA’ and a range of slogans criticising the prime minister, the ruling side responded with ‘Modi, Modi.’
Later, addressing the media outside the House, Jaishankar accused the opposition of 'not being ready to listen.'
“I wanted to inform the House of the developments made in the past month. You saw a very successful visit of the PM to the US...I felt bad that the opposition was not ready to listen. It seemed that they wanted to criticise any and every achievement of the country,” he remarked.
The external affairs minister continued: “Foreign policy is an area where we usually work together. We may debate within the country but outside the country, we should display a united front. The opposition's conduct today should be looked into, when it comes to national interest, politics should be set aside and it should be appreciated.”
INDIA or ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ is a group of 26 opposition parties, including the Congress. The parties have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by PM Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Also on Thursday, MPs from the INDIA group of parties turned up in black to protest the prime minister's silence on Manipur, where ethic clashes have been going on since the first week of May. The government's stand, on the other hand, has been that it is ready for a discussion.
