Chants of Modi, INDIA drown out Manipur’s woes

A family member of Hanglalmuan Vaiphei, an undergraduate student from Churachandpur who was killed in May amid the ethnic violence, in Manipur, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

A spat broke out between the government and the Opposition in Parliament on Thursday over the latter's sloganeering over the Manipur violence and against the Centre during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's statement on foreign engagements.

Sloganeering match

At one point, the treasury benches started shouting ‘Modi, Modi'. To counter them, the Opposition shouted ‘INDIA, INDIA'.

The Opposition members continued to shout slogans over the three-month-long violent clashes and sexual assault on tribal women when the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal spoke on Jaishankar's statement. When Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge rose to speak on Jaishankar's statement, the members of the ruling BJP, too, raised slogans and obstructed his speech in the House. Chants of ‘Modi, Modi' reverberated from the treasury benches.

As, Jaishankar continued his address, the Opposition point, the minister was barely audible with "INDIA, INDIA" slogans being raised by members.

2 bills passed in LS

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha took up and passed two Bills after brief discussions even as Opposition members kept shouting lslogans and displaying placards demanding the presence of the prime minister in the House.

A travesty: Oppn

Opposition bloc INDIA it's a travesty to pass bills when the no-confidence motion is still pending.

"According to Rules and Conventions, no legislative business can be transacted till the no-confidence motion is debated," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

"We want the no-confidence motion moved by the parties in the Lok Sabha in the immediate context of Manipur, which has been accepted by the Speaker, to be taken up at the earliest."

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