PM Modi blames Congress for Manipur ethnic violence

PM Narendra Modi replies to the no-confidence motion, in the Lok Sabha, in New Delhi, on Thursday. Pic/PTI

"Manipur had become the victim of ethnic clashes during the erstwhile Congress regime," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, while replying to the Opposition's no-confidence motion against his government over the ongoing violence in the northeastern state and other issues.

The Opposition staged a walkout when Modi did not speak on Manipur even over an hour after his speech. A few minutes later, Modi said, "Had the Opposition been interested in discussing Manipur, we could have had a detailed discussion separately."

"The violence in Manipur is saddening. Crimes against women are unacceptable and the central and state governments are working together to ensure the guilty are punished... I want to assure the people of Manipur that we will together find a solution and restore peace in state," Modi said.

He then went on to blame the Congress for the ethnic clashes. "Root cause of problems in the northeast is the Congress and its politics... They have murdered the trust of people of the northeast," he added.

Later, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted that they walked out of Lok Sabha "after listening for over 70 minutes to the PM's election sloganeering, abuse of INDIA and obstinate refusal to address the reasons behind the no-confidence motion, especially Manipur". The no-trust motion was defeated by a voice vote.

In Bill, govt drops CJI from EC selection panel

The Centre on Thursday tabled a bill in Rajya Sabha that seeks to replace the chief justice of india (CJI) with a cabinet minister in the panel for selection of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs), in a move that will allow the government to have more control in the appointments of members of the poll panel.

The bill comes months after the Supreme Court in March ruled that a three-member panel, headed by the PM and comprising the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and the CJI, will select the CEC and ECs till a law is framed by Parliament. As per the Bill moved by the Centre, instead of CJI, a Union minister nominated by the PM will join the panel. The Bill was introduced amid an uproar by the Opposition that said the bill was a "blatant attempt at making the EC a total puppet in the hands of the PM".

A vacancy will arise in the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, when EC Anup Chandra Pandey demits office on February 14 on attaining the age of 65 years. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said that even if the bill is passed in Parliament, it would be "unconstitutional" in his view and it was likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court.

Privilege notice against Amit Shah for ‘lying' in LS

The Congress on Thursday gave a notice in the Lok Sabha against alleged breach of privilege by Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of lying on Maharashtra farm widow Kalawati Bandurkar. Gandhi had visited her house in 2008 after her husband died by suicide following a farm crisis in Vidarbha. Shah on Wednesday claimed Modi government got Kalawati a home. But, the Congress alleged the Modi government was lying and tweeted a video, wherein she said Rahul Gandhi had helped her tide over poverty.

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