Mallikarjun Kharge also attacked the Prime Minister, saying he had time to campaign in Manipur but forgot the northeastern state (Image: PTI)
The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on a stormy note on Thursday with the ruling party and the opposition clashing over caste violence in Manipur.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday criticized the Center over caste violence in Manipur and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” after a video of two women being paraded naked in the state surfaced online.
Speaking during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha asked why the Prime Minister was not making a statement on the issue in the House while he was addressing the media outside.
“Manipur is burning. “Women are raped, stripped naked, paraded and the Prime Minister is silent and making statements outside,” Kharge said.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on a stormy note on Thursday, with the ruling party and the opposition locked in a face-off over caste violence in Manipur. While the government has agreed to discuss the Manipur violence, the main opposition Congress is adamant on demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Parliament on the issue.
In his customary interaction with the media in the Parliament premises before the session on Thursday, the Prime Minister said the incident of stripping women in Manipur has left 140 crore Indians ashamed and asserted that the law will act in its full force and no one will be guilty. Will be saved
Earlier today, the Congress chief attacked the Prime Minister, saying he had time to campaign in Manipur but forgot the northeastern state.
Talking to the media at his residence in Delhi, Kharge said, ‘The Prime Minister is silent and has visited many countries including France, Egypt. He is silent on Manipur, he could have called a meeting on Manipur but he seems to have forgotten it.”
Highlighting the plight of the people of the state, the Congress leader said that people are being looted, women are being gang-raped but Modiji is not remembering Manipur.
He said, “He has time to call a meeting of 38 parties. He could have gone to Manipur as they have adequate security arrangements, whereas Rahul Gandhi has gone without any such facility.
He said, “He (Modi) has been roaming around for election campaign for the last 80 days. Campaign but he is ignoring Manipur. He should have resolved the issue but he is not interested in it and wants the status quo to continue,” said the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
When asked whether the Congress would seek to send an all-party delegation to Manipur, he said, “We (Congress delegation) have gone and come back. The Prime Minister should visit Manipur before the opposition parties. We want that there should be a discussion on Manipur in the Parliament and then a delegation of the opposition should be sent.
(With IANS inputs)