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Not Modi vs Rahul; new star speaker in Congress: 5 takeaways from no-confidence debate
BJP MPs respond in unison to rhetorical questions; Gaurav Gogoi's speech on Manipur stands out; no-confidence motion focuses on Manipur. Not.
There was nothing unexpected when the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the NDA government was defeated in Lok Sabha, but the tactic used by the Congress-led grouping INDIA to force a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Manipur issue resulted in a spirited debate over three days, a rarity this Monsoon session of Parliament.
Sunetra Choudhury, National Political Editor, Hindustan Times, looked at some key takeaways from the no-confidence motion:
It was about Manipur. But wasn't
While Prime Minister Modi had condemned the sexual assault of Kuki women by a mob of dominant Meiteis after a video of the same went viral, he held back from addressing the overall conflict. The no-confidence motion against the government was a political ploy to get the prime minister to come to Parliament and speak about the tragedy unfolding in the northeastern state which has seen over 150 deaths, cases of sexual assaults, and has left thousands of people homeless. With the exception of a handful, a majority of the speeches were focused on why the government shouldn't face a trust vote. The government projected the entire move as a vindictive futile ploy one year away from elections similar to 2018.
Win for Modi, but consolidation for Opposition
While replying to the motion in the House, Prime Minister Modi said the no-confidence motion was for the opposition and not for the government. But it wasn't all bad for the Opposition as the Congress-led grouping, INDIA, came across as well-coordinated for the first time. One after the other, they stood up for INDIA and backed up each other points. They also came out to defend Rahul Gandhi when BJP women MPs attacked the Congress leader for blowing a kiss towards his detractors.
Not Modi vs Rahul
While some party colleagues wanted Rahul Gandhi to open the debate, he refused to take that starring role. He didn't even was the final speaker from the Congress party. His speech came obscurely on day 2 of the debate in an apparent attempt to show a united fight without letting egos get in the way.
Chorus as a new style
BJP evolving a new way for their rhetoric grabbed the attention. There were times when the ministers, including finance minister Nirmala Sitharama and home minister Amit Shah, would ask a rhetorical question and the BJP MPs would respond in unison.
New stars
It is no secret that Prime Minister Modi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi are some of the brilliant speakers in Lok Sabha. But this time some other lawmakers, including Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, drew attention with their eloquent speech. Gaurav Gogoi gave a memorable speech largely focussing on Manipur and may have been the best speech of the entire debate.
Initiating the debate on the motion in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi posed a series of three questions focused on Manipur -- why the prime minister had not visited Manipur, why it took 80 days to break the silence on the state and why he had not sacked the chief minister. Gogoi also put forward three demands, saying the opposition wanted Modi to visit Manipur, lead an all-party delegation to the north-eastern state and make sincere efforts to restore peace by meeting various organisations there.
Going on to list his reasons for Modi's silence, he alleged, "It was because the state government failed to deal with the ethnic violence in Manipur and the Home Department and the National Security Advisor failed to handle the situation.
"The third reason for the prime minister's silence is that he does not like to accept his mistakes. He will never accept publicly that his state government has failed. He prefers to remain silent than accept mistakes."
Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav spoke evocatively about women's plight in Manipur. Because she doesn't usually speak in Parliament, it was a rare moment and a welcome one. Dimple Yadav, wife of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, alleged the sexual assault of Kuki women in Manipur that triggered widespread outrage was a “state-sponsored” ethnic violence. She lamented the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House and said the opposition parties wanted to keep their viewpoints in front of him.
