Manipur: Opposition holds protest in Parliament premises, demands PM’s statement

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Leaders of several opposition parties on Monday staged a protest in Parliament complex demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in the House on the Manipur issue.

Holding placards and banners that read “INDIA for Manipur” and “INDIA demands PM’s statement on Manipur”, the opposition parties raised slogans against the government in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament complex.

Speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge
said it is the prime minister’s duty to make a comprehensive statement in Parliament on Manipur violence.

“It is shameful that the prime minister is making a statement outside the House, when Parliament is in session. It is his duty to make a comprehensive statement inside Parliament on Manipur violence,” the Congress leader said.

“We are requesting the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of Lok Sabha that the PM should make a statement on the situation in Manipur. We want a discussion under Rule 167 but the Modi government wants a short duration discussion under Rule 176 for half an hour.We want under Rule 267 under which there can also be voting,” he said.

The prime minister should first make a statement and then we will have a discussion under Rule 267, he said

The Modi government and the BJP cannot run away from its constitutional duty and answerability on Manipur, Kharge added.

The government has agreed to hold a short-duration discussion on the Manipur issue with the Home Minister replying to it, but the opposition is adamant on its demand for the prime minister’s statement first.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have failed to transact any business during the Monsoon Session amid the stalemate between the opposition and the government over the Manipur issue.