Congress issues whip to all its MPs

Congress issues whip to all its MPs

Congress issues whip to all its MPs

The opposition parties who are part of the I.N.D.I.A. Alliance are likely to submit a notice for a no-confidence motion against the government in parliament in an attempt to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on the Manipur violence issue. Floor leaders of these parties will hold a meeting on Wednesday morning in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge at 10 am. 

Quoting sources, PTI reported that the Congress has issued a whip to all its MPs, directing them to be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The party MPs will also hold a meeting in the office of the Congress Parliamentary Party for a meeting at 10.30 am.

The alliance has already drawn up a draft of the notice and is in the process of getting the necessary 50 signatures of MPs. The group has to submit the notice before 10 am for it to be read out by the speaker in the House on Wednesday. 

A non-confidence motion against the government is bound to fail the numbers test, but the opposition thinks they can win the battle of perceptions by cornering the government over the ethnic violence that has killed more than 150 people over the last three months in the northeastern state.

Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament remain disrupted from day one of the Monsoon session with the opposition parties demanding a statement by the prime minister on the Manipur violence before a discussion.

The Opposition wants a debate under Rule 267, a statement from the PM followed by the suspension of all regular proceedings to discuss the Manipur issue, while the Centre is only willing for discussion under Rule 176, which would be a short interaction not exceeding two-and a-half hours.  

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that he has written to opposition leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, seeking their cooperation to discuss the Manipur violence issue in parliament. Kharge is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Chowdhury is the Congress leader in Lok Sabha.

"I want to reiterate that I have written letters to leaders of opposition in both Houses that we (government) are prepared for a discussion for as long as they want. The government is not afraid of anything. Those who want to debate the Manipur issue can debate. We have nothing to hide," Shah said while replying to a short debate on the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha.