Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the No-Confidence Motion in parliament yesterday was a virtual campaign speech scourging the Opposition — crashing their hopes of cornering him and compelling him to speak on violence-hit Manipur. After more than an hour, when the Opposition bloc INDIA walked out, PM Modi said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already given a comprehensive response on Manipur, but the Opposition only wanted to “play politics”. The NDA defeated the no-confidence motion by a comfortable margin.
“I want to tell the mothers and sisters of Manipur that the country and the parliament are with you. I want to assure the people of Manipur that we will work to develop Manipur,” he said in a two-hour-thirteen-minute speech, the longest ever.
But he blamed the Opposition for the events in Manipur, saying it was the result of Congress politics. Starting with Ram Manohar Lohia’s censure for Jawaharlal Nehru over his northeast policy, he traced it to the separatist movements in several northeastern states.Ā Such No-Confidence Motions are “lucky” for him, Modi said, for these turn out to be a test of the Opposition. The people judge them and return the BJP to power with a bigger mandate.