Prime Minister Narendra Modi replies to the Motion of No-Confidence in the Lok Sabha in the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
The debate on the no-confidence motion, which took the centre stage of the nation the past three days, was a disappointment because it did not go beyond the usual and expected postures and declamations of both the ruling side and the Opposition.
If the limited purpose of the motion was to draw Prime Minister Narendra Modi out of his silence on Manipur, it perhaps had questionable success, because the Prime Minister did finally utter the word, though he did not spell it out in all its implications. It is a pity if the Opposition parties have to use the last weapon in parliamentary procedure to make the Prime Minister talk about the first and foremost of the country’s present concerns.
That shows as much the helplessness of the Opposition as the callousness and arrogance, and impunity and insensitiveness of the government and its leader. That is a poor reflection on the state of democracy in the country.
There was not much light on Manipur either in the Prime Minister’s or Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech that would give a sense of what the government would do to restore peace and normalcy there. There was only a hope that things will improve, and a defence of an indefensible state government, apart from the now tiresomely regular finger-pointing at the Congress for all the ills in the country, whether in Manipur, or elsewhere in the North-East and the entire country. When the Prime Minister says “we will find a solution” after three months of unrelenting strife, that does not show conviction or confidence.
He only touched upon Manipur after the Opposition walked out as there was no mention of it for over 90 minutes of his speech. He used much of his time to mock, ridicule and berate the Opposition, especially the Congress.
The attitude was clearly, “how dare you question me?” There was a lot of sound and fury, which did not signify much, except the hardening political positions, growing distances and rift in the national scene and, most unfortunately, the failure of parliament as the highest platform for discourse and decision-making.
There was no listening but talking, and the speakers were talking at each other, not having a conversation about the issues they wanted to raise and discuss before the nation. The Prime Minister came to the House only to say his piece.
It was as if the campaign for the 2024 election had started from parliament. This was the first public forum in which the Opposition in its new electoral visage confronted the government face-to-face. Much of what was said and how it was said during the no-trust debate will set the tone for the thrust and parry of the coming campaign.
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