Manipur Issue: Opposition Moves No-Confidence Motion Against Modi Govt In Lok Sabha

No-Confidence Motion: The Opposition has said the objective was to push PM Modi to reply in Parliament on the Manipur issue.

The Opposition front, named INDIA, submitted a notice for a no-confidence motion against the government in Lok Sabha on Wednesday in a bid to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Manipur ethnic violence. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and BRS MP Nama Nageswara Rao filed the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, ANI reported.

Manickam Tagore, Congress whip in Lok Sabha, said this was the Opposition's last weapon against the government.

"INDIA alliance is together, INDIA alliance has proposed this idea and yesterday it was decided. We wanted to break the arrogance of Modi. He is behaving as an arrogant person - not to come to the Parliament and make a statement on Manipur...We feel that it is our duty to use this last weapon," ANI quoted Tagore as saying.

While the BJP government faces no threat due to the motion as the NDA has a comfortable majority in Lok Sabha, the Opposition has said the objective was to push PM Modi to reply in Parliament on the Manipur issue. The government has been insisting that only Union Home Minister Amit Shah would reply to a debate on the Manipur situation.

The decision to move the motion was taken in a meeting attended by Opposition MPs at the chamber of Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament on Tuesday.

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The Congress has issued a whip in Lok Sabha for its members to be present in its parliamentary office "to discuss some important issues". A three-line whip has also been issued to all its MPs in Lok Sabha to be present in the House on Wednesday. 

Responding to the Opposition parties' decision on no-confidence motion, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Opposition should remember their failed attempt in 2018.

"If they are doing so, they should know that last time they brought a no-confidence motion, BJP came back to power with a stronger majority of over 300 seats and the same will happen again and we will get more than 350 seats," PTI quoted Joshi as saying.

In 2018, the Telugu Desam Party, a former NDA ally, brought a no-confidence motion against the Modi government after the party accused the Centre of non-allocation of adequate funds to Andhra Pradesh. However, the government defeated the motion and won it by 325 to 126 votes.