The Prime Minister of India appeared on August 10 in front of the Lower House (Lok Sabha) forced by a motion of no confidence. On the third day of debate, the appeal did not receive sufficient support and was unsuccessful. During the debate, the opposition demanded that Modi pronounce on the wave of violence that is sweeping the state of Manipur. The conflict in the northeastern Indian state has been characterized by bloody episodes of ethnic violence and the suspension of communications.
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Prime Minister Modi’s participation in the last day of debate was characterized mainly by the discursive attack on the opposition. The prime minister launched criticism of his detractors: “Those who do not trust democracy are always the ones who are ready to comment, but do not have the patience to listen.”
For their part, parliamentarians opposed to the prime minister demanded that the president refer to the violence plaguing the state of Manipur, an issue they accuse him of evading.
Modi has been the target of numerous accusations from the opposition led by Rahul Gandhi, who was recently reinstated in his parliamentary seat. The politician denounced that the prime minister was “setting the whole country on fire” and “murdering mother India”.
During Modi’s participation in the Lok Sabha session, some opposition parliamentarians left the room and others even entered 75 minutes after the Prime Minister’s speech began.
After the parliamentarians withdrew, the motion of no confidence was thrown out in a vote in which the ruling Hindu nationalist partyBharatiya Janata (BJP), holds the unquestionable majority.
The BJP is emerging as the probable winner in the elections scheduled for 2024, in which it will seek its third victory by defeating the Hindu majority that inhabits the country. The ruling party is repeatedly accused of promoting the religious fragmentation of society for electoral purposes.
Ethnic violence in Manipur
Modi took up the Manipur issue after the opposition MPs had withdrawn from the debating room. The prime minister assured that “efforts” are being carried out to curb the violence and that “it will soon be in Manipur.”
Despite the fact that the president retains great popularity among the population, the issue of ethnic conflict in the northeastern state has been thorny for his Administration.
The region in question was engulfed in fierce violence between the Kukis ethnic minority and the Meiteis majority tribal group. The conflict has been active since May 3 and responds to a struggle over who has greater legitimacy in their right to the region.
Since the start of the clashes there have been more than 60,000 internally forced displaced and at least 152 deaths. During the three months of the conflict, an information siege has been reported as a result of the suspension of communications.
Even though it is not possible to easily access press reports about what is happening in Manipur, in recent days a video in which two Kuki women are exhibited and sexually assaulted by armed men went viral on social networks. On the video, Modi spoke out in July, saying that her heart was filled with “pain and anger”. The episode led to a demonstration by Kuki women in the Churachandpur district of Manipur on July 22.
Human Rights Watch has accused the Manipur region’s ruling BJP of facilitating the conflict through “divisive policies that promote Hindu majoritarianism.”
How does a vote of no confidence work in India?
In the Indian system, the figure of motion of censure is understood as a political mechanism to corroborate the confidence that exists of the legislators towards the party in power; that it must possess a majority of the Lok Sabha in order to operate.
When a member of the lower house considers that the group in power does not have a sufficient majority, they can evoke a motion of no confidence, which forces the ruling party to prove the existence of such support.
In accordance with rule 198, which regulates the motion of censure procedure, this figure can only be used in the Lower House and must be accepted by at least 50 members to proceed to set a date for the debate, which must take place in the following 10 days.
In the event that the support of the majority in the voting exercise cannot be verified, the government in turn must resign, according to an analysis on the matter published by ‘The Indian Express’.
The vote of no confidence Modi faced this August is the first of its kind he has faced during his second term. In his first Administration, the Indian president had been the subject of a motion of no confidence also called by his detractors in 2018.
With EFE, Reuters, AFP and local media
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