New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed Narendra Modi for laughing and cracking jokes in parliament during his response to the no-confidence motion, saying such behaviour does not behove the prime minister while Manipur “has been on fire for months”.
Speaking at a press conference, Gandhi said that Prime Minister Modi devoted just two minutes to Manipur in a speech that was more than two hours long.
“I watched the PM yesterday speaking for two hours laughing, joking, lagaoing naaras (raising slogans). The prime minister seems to have forgotten that the state of Manipur is on fire and has been on fire for many days,” Gandhi said.
“The prime minister sitting in the middle of Parliament was shamelessly laughing… The issue was not Congress or me, the issue was what is happening in Manipur and why it was not being stopped,” he said.
Gandhi said his remarks that Prime Minister Modi and home minister Amit Shah had “murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur” were not hollow. “Hindustan has been murdered by BJP in Manipur,” he said.
“When a person becomes PM, he should not speak like a petty politician. It’s tragic to watch PM Modi speak for 2 hours on the Congress, opposition. It doesn’t do justice to his position… The only conclusion I want to draw is that the PM has tools in hand but for some reasons, he refuses to use them. There are clear reasons why PM is not going to Manipur,” Gandhi said.
He said the Army can bring peace in 2-3 days but the government was not deploying it. “I am not seeking Army’s intervention. All I am saying is that Army can stop this nonsense in two days. It is not my position to say which tool PM Modi will use” the Congress leader said.