PM Modi addresses Lok Sabha on no-confidence motion
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Lok Sabha on the no-confidence motion filed against his government by the opposition on Thursday. This is the second time PM Modi is facing a no-confidence motion; the first one was in 2018. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday questioned PM Modi for not visiting Manipur and accused him of not considering the state a part of India.
Why does this story matter?
The opposition has accused the Centre of avoiding discussion on Manipur, which has been witnessing a civil war-like situation for over three months. The opposition said it moved the no-confidence motion to force PM Modi to address the Manipur issue in Parliament. The government, on the other hand, has accused the opposition of hyping up the issue to mislead people and impede parliamentary proceedings.
Why didn't PM visit Manipur: Congress
During the debate on Tuesday, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi called out PM Modi and posed three questions before the Centre saying, "Why did he not visit Manipur to date?" "Why did it take almost 80 days to finally speak on Manipur and when he did speak it was just for 30 seconds? Why has the Manipur Chief Minister not been sacked so far?"
India suffered under Congress rule: Amit Shah
On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah listed the government's achievements in the House. He accused the Congress of decades of misgovernance in the northeast and the rest of India. Citing previous episodes of ethnic violence in Manipur during the Congress rule, he said erstwhile prime ministers didn't address the issue in Parliament and rebuked the opposition for demanding a reply from PM Modi.
BJP set to sail through motion
After Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed that PM Modi will address the House regarding the no-confidence motion on Thursday. Notably, the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 331 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The opposition bloc has 144 MPs, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which also filed a no-confidence motion apart from the Congress, has nine MPs.
BJD, YSRCP likely to support government
Meanwhile, Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has announced support to the government and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) is expected to follow suit. According to NDTV, the YSRCP and BJD have 34 members together.
