One of the highlights of the first day of the No Confidence Motion debate in the Lok Sabha was the manner in which a few Opposition MPs invoked former Prime Minister and BJP icon Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged silence on the violence in Manipur, the Opposition recalled Vajpayee's advice to Modi when the latter was the CM of Gujarat in 2002.
Introducing the Motion of No Confidence, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi asked why Manipur CM N Biren Singh had not been removed as yet.
"During the 2002 Gujarat riots, then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji visited the state. He visited refugee camps in Gujarat too. But when Manipur was burning, PM Modi was busy campaigning for elections in Karnataka," Gogoi said.
“Why did he (PM Modi) take about 80 days to speak on Manipur and when he did, why did he speak only for 30 seconds? After that there has been no peace appeal on Manipur from Modi. Ministers are saying they will speak, but as Prime Minister, the power of his words cannot be matched by ministers,” Gogoi added.