Manipur, The Country Stands With You, This Parliament Is With You: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday assured the people of Manipur that the country and the Parliament stand with them while expressing hope that the crisis, which started in May, will end soon.

"I want to assure the people of Manipur, the country stands with you, this parliament is with you. Manipur will emerge from this conflict and soon march on the path of development and progress," he said in Lok Sabha in his no-confidence speech.

Prime Minister said that he has visited every part of North East in the last nine years and has an emotional attachment to it. He then attacked Congress for the current crisis.

"There's an attempt to project the Manipur crisis as one that has just happened. The North East's problems were birthed by Congress. People of Northeast aren't responsible for these problems, Congress party's politics is responsible for it", PM Modi said in Lok Sabha.

"On March 5th, 1966, the Congress government got Indian Airforce to target unarmed people in Mizoram. Were they not people of India? They got IAF to attack innocent civilians in Mizoram. Even today on March 5th, Mizoram mourns. It hasn't healed from those wounds. Congress hid this reality from the nation. Indira Gandhi got Vayu Sena to attack Mizoram. They got forces to attack the Akal Takth. It started with unleashing attacks in Mizoram', says the Prime Minister said while reminding Congress of the Aizawl bombing.

'For us, North East is our 'Jihar Ka Tukda'," he added. He then mentioned that Ram Manohar Lohia was critical of Pandit Nehru's Northeast policy and accused India's first Prime Minister of ignoring the Northeast and converting it into cold storage. "Have the Lohiawadis forgotten this?' he questioned.

More than 150 people have lost their lives and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

On May 4, two women were paraded naked by a mob and the video of the incident surfaced online on July 4.

PM Modi started his speech by thanking the Opposition party for the no-confidence motion as it has always been lucky for the BJP. He expressed his confidence that his party will return to power with a full majority again in 2024.

In his speech, the Prime Minister repeatedly thanked the Opposition parties of bringing the no-confidence motion as it brings luck for the BJP.

"In a way, the Opposition's No Confidence has always been lucky for us. Today, I can see that you (Opposition) have decided that NDA and BJP will come back in the 2024 elections with a grand victory, breaking all previous records, with the blessings of the people," he added.

He also took potshot at the Opposition parties for not preparing well for the no-confidence motion. "The next instance in 2028, when they bring forth a no-confidence motion, I hope they approach it with readiness, diligently do their groundwork, and engage in astute actions," he added.

"Let there be no politics over Manipur. Let's work towards bringing a solution. I thank those who moved this no-confidence motion. This no-confidence motion is a symbol of the Opposition's betrayal of people."

The motion's notice was submitted by Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress MP, and received backing from all members of the INDIA bloc, with a combined representation of 144 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Furthermore, the motion advocated by Gogoi, who holds the position of Congress party's deputy leader in the Lower House, was also endorsed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by Telangana CM KCR.