As a means of compelling the prime minister to address in-depth worries about ethnic riots in a northeastern state, an alliance of opposition parties in India’s parliament on Wednesday authorized a no-confidence vote against Narendra Modi’s government.
The stability of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not be threatened by the no-confidence motion because it has a comfortable majority of 301 members in the lower chamber of parliament.
More than 130 people have been slain and 60,000 displaced since early May in rural, BJP-ruled Manipur state, and the opposition wants to spark a debate over this issue.
Om Birla, the speaker of the lower house, accepted the opposition’s motion and promised a vote and debate date in the near future.
As Modi’s government prepares for a national election in May 2024, the ethnic tensions in the 3.2 million-person state are being perceived as a rare security and political disaster.
Before footage showing two women being nakedly paraded and abused by a mob in Manipur went viral last week, Modi had not publicly remarked on the violence.
Modi called the attack on the crowd “shameful” and vowed to take strong measures against those responsible.
But opposition parties have disrupted parliament’s new monsoon session, which began last week, in order to press Modi for a full statement on Manipur and a subsequent discussion.
The motion of no confidence will be placed to a vote only after he, as prime minister, has responded to it.
The government released a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah, who said the duty for domestic security was under his purview.
On May 3, violence broke out after a court ordered the state administration to consider giving the majority Meitei community the same economic perks and quotas in government positions and education as the minority Kuki population receives.
Congress party leader Shashi Tharoor has called on the government to devote more resources to answering queries about Manipur.
“It’s common knowledge that Manipur has suffered terrible losses of life as a result of violence, sexual assault, and population dislocation. If this isn’t the top priority, what is? According to what Tharoor said to Reuters.
