Rahul Gandhi kicked off the no confidence motion debate from the side of the Opposition in Lok Sabha today, and stated that "Bharat ek awaaz hai, Bharat hamari janta ki awaaz hai, dil ki awaaz hai. Uss awaaz ki hatya aapne Manipur mein ki. Iska matlab Bharat Mata ki hatya aapne Manipur mein ki. You killed India by killing the people of Manipur. You are a traitor, you are not a patriot."
The Parliament resumed at 11 am for the second day of the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government. Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi had initiated the no confidence debate on Tuesday, saying that the Opposition has brought this motion for Manipur. The 16-hour debate is expected to continue till Thursday (August 10), when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to give his reply. On the first day, a verbal spat between the government and the Opposition alliance was witnessed after Rahul Gandhi made a last-minute decision to not initiate the debate.
At least 120 people have been killed since May in armed clashes in Manipur, a remote state in northeast India with a history of ethnic conflict. The dispute stems from animosity between Manipur's Meitei majority and the Kuki, one of several tribal groups in the state that make up about 16 percent of its population. The Meitei are predominantly Hindu and largely live in urban centres, while the mainly Christian Kuki usually live in scattered settlements in the state's hills. Things came to a head in May over plans to recognise the Meitei as a "Scheduled Tribe" -- a status already conferred upon the Kuki. This would grant them a form of affirmative action through guaranteed quotas of government jobs and college admissions.Kuki groups staged protests over fears the plans could reduce their own entitlements, with rallies quickly spiralling into violence. Protesters set fire to vehicles and buildings, and Meitei mobs armed with guns and petrol cans then attacked Kuki settlements in the hills.