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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address lawmakers from the floor of Parliament on Thursday, as his government faces a vote on a no-confidence motion.
The no-confidence motion was set forth by a new grand alliance of India’s opposition parties led by the Congress party.
They have been demanding the prime minister directly address the bloodshed in northeastern Manipur state.
Modi has mostly remained silent on the violence that broke out early May, with the state now teetering on the brink of a civil war.
He publicly spoke on the matter when a video, showing two women being paraded naked, went viral in July and sparked global outrage.
Motion to force Modi to speak on Manipur violence
The motion does not pose a serious risk to Modi’s ruling government as his alliance has a combined 331 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party alone has 303 seats. To secure power, a party or coalition must control 272 seats.
The vote of no-confidence has been historically used as a tool to force a debate on a certain issue.
India is burning, opposition says
“If Manipur is burning, India is burning. If Manipur is divided, India is divided,” Congress lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi said two days ago on the opening day of the debate on the no-confidence motion.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told parliament that the army should have been able to stop the violence already. But despite the presence of troops, violence has festered for over three months.
Gandhi, who returned to parliament after being reinstated as a lawmaker this week, called for the firing of the state government run by Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP.
Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, said Wednesday the government was deeply concerned about the violence in Manipur, which he described as a “dance of fury.”
He rejected the opposition party’s demand to fire the state’s top elected leader, Biren Singh, who belongs to his party.
rm/sms (Reuters, AP)
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