You murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur: Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech during the no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and accused the PM of being ‘anti-national’ and ‘murdering India in Manipur.’

In his first speech – of about 30 minutes – after being reinstated as a Lok Sabha MP after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a 2019 defamation case, Gandhi said Modi had failed to listen to the voice of India. “Some people say that this country has different languages, some say this is a land, some say this is dharma (religion or way of life), some say this is ‘sona chandi’ (gold and silver). But the truth, my friends, is that this country is one voice. This country is the voice of the people, their pain and their struggle,” he said.

“If we have to listen to their voices then we have to let go of our arrogance. When we do that we will be able to hear the voice of the people, and we have to (do so) by leaving behind arrogance and hatred.”

Gandhi said that Modi has not visited Manipur because he does not consider Manipur a part of India. “Some days back I visited Manipur. Our Prime Minister did not go. He still has not gone. Because for him, Manipur is not a part of India. You have divided Manipur into two halves. You have destroyed Manipur,” he said. “As I said in the beginning of my speech that India is a voice. It is the voice of our people, the voice of from the hearts of our people. You have murdered that voice. This means you have murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur. By killing the people of Manipur, you have murdered India. You are anti-national, you cannot be desh bhakt (patriotic), you cannot be desh premi. You have murdered India,” he said.

The Cong leader said: “This is why PM does not go to Manipur because you have murdered India in Manipur. You are not the protector of Bharat Mata, you are the murderer of Bharat Mata,” he said.

Loud protests broke out from the treasury benches, a frequent occurrence while Gandhi spoke. Congress MPs could be heard telling Speaker Om Birla that they too will start interrupting when BJP MPs speak.

Congress’s Jairam Ramesh has tweeted that Sansad TV showed Gandhi for less than 40% of Rahul Gandhi’s speech.

Meanwhile, amid the protests, Speaker Birla said that Gandhi should be cautious while speaking about Bharat Mata. “Bharat Mata is our mother. I believe we should be cautious while using such words,” said Birla. However, Gandhi continued and said: “You have killed my mother in Manipur. One of my mothers is sitting here and the other has been murdered in Manipur. “Until you end the violence (in Manipur) you are killing my mother,” he said.